Voor het pensioen - komedie van de Duitse ziel
With Eve of Retirement (A comedy of the German soul), Austrian author Thomas Bernhard (1931-1981) wrote what he considers his best play in 1979. And in doing so gives us much more than just a history lesson. It is an invitation to continue thinking about how the shadows of the past still haunt us in the present. The lengths people are willing to go to in their quest for certainty.
Run time tba
Genre Theatre
Language Dutch
Voor het pensioen
The play is set at the home of the Höller family on Oct. 7, the birthday of Heinrich Himmler, former SS leader. Rudolf Höller, once camp commander and for years respected president of the court, is about to retire. Oct. 7 is a big day for him and for his sister Vera. Clara, their younger wheelchair-bound sister, is on the sidelines of this celebration.
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She is burdened by the weight of the past and watches with sorrow as her family embraces atrocities. In the Höllers' claustrophobic and incestuous home, an ideological power play unfolds. A celebration that is about guilt, resentment, denial and moral decay. And about family ties that can never be broken.
Tom Dewispelaere about Voor het pensioen
“In his cynical 'comedy of the German soul,' Bernhard confronts us with figures who grew up in fascist thinking and have continued to cherish it. Why is that, what is so appealing about it? The shift in American politics, the election results in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, the success of Vlaams Belang. Why is the extreme right being voted for again in so many households? That triggers me, and I think it's our job as artists to keep talking about that.”
Credits
text Thomas Bernhard
translation Tom Dewispelaere & Stijn Van Opstal
directed by Tom Dewispelaere
directing assistance Stijn Van Opstal
cast Pierre Bokma, Tiny Bertels, Katelijne Damen
dramaturgy Erwin Jans
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video design Bram Delafonteyne
design Bram Delafonteyne en Tom Dewispelaere
costume design Ilse Vandenbussche
sound design Diederik de Cock
production Toneelhuis
light design Fabiana Piccioli
