I'm only here temporarily

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I'm only here temporarily is a play by Tankred Dorst , which premiered on October 7, 2007 under the direction of Julia Hölscher at the State Theater in Hanover .

In a dreary no man's land a number of old people are facing death. This waiting is presented in the absurd piece as a hostile affair without any hope.

action

During the whole piece, the old woman Schilagi just manages to cross the stage in a triple step. None of the old assembled is happy. On the contrary: the old woman Lilje is always afraid of her debts. "I'm only here temporarily," she clarifies when asked. The old woman's answer, in line with Tankred Dorst's undisguised intention, is either a tangible lie or perhaps ironic. Because the “place of action” is apodictically the end of the line in the life of old people.

In the 21st century, the elderly had to go along with things that were difficult to imagine. For example the sight of burning people in a roaring “ fire storm ” - an image that the old man with the earmuffs cannot get rid of.

Action must be looked for. The child in the red dress running around among the old people, like these, disappears behind boulders and occasionally reappears. A chronological description of the content is not dared, as this inevitably creates a disrupted and disjointed impression. Nonetheless, the plot can for example be about the old judge Hans Dahms - former court president and the old doctor Dr. Büttner: Both are enemies, have had their day and stand for all other old people: Nobody is needed anymore. Worse still: the viewer searches in vain for a character who wants to achieve a goal. So, there is still a trial against Dr. Büttner in limbo. You watch yourself. For example, the president of the court is annoyed by the child in the red dress. When Dahms forcibly closes the child's eyes from behind, it is Büttner who surprises his intimate enemy. In return, Dahms keeps a watchful eye on the doctor, questions his competence and rightly calls his adversary a human-hater. Dr. Büttner wants to get the old people out of the world in his own way: "One injection and away," says this doctor. The former court president calls this euthanasia .

Not only Judge Dahms has his problems with the above child. Towards the end of the play, the child in the red dress is finally chased by all the old people. Sonny and the bum Alma don't take part in the hunt. The result: the viewer has to assume that the child was killed behind the scenes by the old people. The murderers return from the scene of the crime in a happy mood. The “hunters” show themselves as trophies wrapped in “things”. Apparently blood is dripping from it.

Speaking of Sonny and Alma. Tankred Dorst tells an outrageous, but at least one story, about old Mr. Sonnemann - called Sonny. Sonny's rich wife Elinor was run over on the street. The widower Sonny could live in luxury on it. Five million are left. Sonny plays with the greedy young heirs - via tape message. Alma is a brave woman. She boldly addresses Death crouching on a tree. To Alma, Dr. Büttner a bow. Alma is the only one who has accepted the confusing, boulder-strewn terrain as a place to stay. The old woman does not want to be driven away from the inhospitable place this time; not even from the garbage disposal. It had also been Alma, who had drastically but unsuccessfully intervened against the aggression directed at the child. As a social critic appointed by Tankred Dorst, Alma scolds the judge as a pederast and the Dr. Büttner a do-gooder and murderer who wants to get rid of the old. The bum never minced words; makes it clear that Dahms can no longer be taken fully as a judge. He is just a simple pedestrian.

interpretation

Hartmut Krug speaks in his review (see below) of an “all too existentially extensive search piece”. If you want to find a stop in your private search behind the constant wailing, screeching, tooting, accusations and bad abuse of the fifteen old people, in the 16th of the 39 scenes you will come across the verdict of Judge Dahm about the "fourteen unexplained [n] Deaths of Old Patients ", which allegedly on the conscience of the doctor Dr. Büttner, a former “well-known doctor” with “gifted hands” should go. Then the location of the action would no longer be “no man's land”, but something like Hades . However, since the passage just mentioned is not taken up at any point in the following 23 scenes, Tankred Dorst certainly meant it differently: the non-committal and nebulous retains the upper hand.

In this bitter black and white snapshot of our society, the established citizen is the bad and the bum is the good.

reception

literature

Text output

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Incredibly frightening: Aggression of the old people, presumably resulting from their life situation with no prospects, is ultimately directed against the only bearer of hope in their area - against a child.
  2. ↑ Sonny had put his finger on the wound called age: “O childhood! Time of innocence and hope! "(Edition used, S, 210, 16. Zvu)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Notes in the edition used, p. 414, penultimate entry
  2. ↑ Edition used, p. 191, 12. Zvu
  3. ↑ Edition used, pp. 192–193
  4. ↑ Edition used, p. 170, 14th Zvu
  5. ↑ Edition used, p. 170, 9th Zvu
  6. ↑ Edition used, p. 213
  7. ↑ Edition used, p. 169, 16. Zvu
  8. ↑ Edition used, p. 170, 12. Zvu and p. 171, 8. Zvo
  9. ↑ Edition used, p. 185, middle
  10. ↑ Edition used, p. 170, 18. Zvu
  11. ↑ Edition used, p. 185
  12. ↑ suhrkamp.de/buecher/spectaculum
  13. ↑ See also the Kathrin Türks Prize