Yasmina Reza
Eine Verzweiflung
('Desolation')
An old man talks – and does not let go. In a furious monologue, he settles old scores with his son, with society, with everything that has become alien to him. In a bitter and clear-sighted, angry and absolutely hilarious way, he points his finger at a generation of creatures of comfort that has dedicated itself to hedonism yet remains empty inside. His tirades are simultaneously an accusation and a defence, an expression of being incapable of loving and of the longing for being understood, a battle for dignity in the face of transience – quiet and loud at the same time, radically human.
Twenty-five years after its publication, Yasmina Reza's first novel has lost none of its relevance. It oscillates between a furiously fast-paced language and quiet melancholy: a magnificent one-man show that grapples with the world and the realisation that we are our own worst enemy. The boundaries between wrath and tenderness, self-hate and longing blur in this speech that is also a portrait of Europe – grown old yet still sprightly. Thomas Thieme lends an intensity to the old man that leaves you breathless. His burning soul changes back and forth between hate speech and self-exposure at an alarming speed, yet all the while, he is also grotesque, wicked and sometimes also disarmingly self-mocking.
Thanks to his distinctive physique, charisma and sensitivity, Thomas Thieme is one of the most famous actors in the German-speaking countries. In the past few years, he has appeared in films such as The Lives of Others, Der Mann aus der Pfalz and Old Agent Men and its follow-up, as well as the series Babylon Berlin. The theatre magazine Theater heute voted him actor of the year in 2000, and he won the Golden Camera film and television award in 2014. On stage, he has worked with directors such as Einar Schleef, Claus Peymann and Robert Wilson.
Dramatic rights: © Felix Bloch Erben GmbH & Co. KG / Theaterverlag Desch, Berlin, © for the German translation Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich
