Der Besuch der alten Dame

In Der Besuch der alten Dame, Claire Zachanassian takes revenge on the village where she grew up. For more than 60 years, this tendentiously overdrawn, eccentric billionaire has been taking the stage before our eyes – a conveyor of ideas in a parable about justice. Yet our sympathies go to Alfred, the man who got her pregnant and then dropped her, and for whose death she’s now offering one billion. January 29, 1956 saw the world premiere of this play at the Schauspielhaus. 65 years later, the year Dürrenmatt would have turned 100, and a good 3 years after the #MeToo movement kicked off, Nicolas Stemann takes a second look at the play.