Tristesses

Not long ago, on the fictional Danish island of Sadness, there lived more than a hundred people whose sole employer was the abattoir. Ever since the abattoir went broke, the island has had an abandoned feel and only eight residents remain – strange, stubborn characters. They are united by a weird melancholy. Their idleness and boredom come to an end when an old woman called Ida Heiger, the wife of the former abattoir owner, is found hanging from the flagpole wrapped in the Danish flag – suicide! Her daughter, Martha, leader of the “Party of National Awakening” and poised to reach the highest levels in parliament, comes across from the mainland and tries to hush up her mother’s death. From then on the dead begin to walk the island, and the wind again carries the songs they used to sing to calm the cattle on their way to the slaughtering block. Only Ellen, the teenage daughter of the mayor, tries to ward off the impending doom. She plans an attempt on the life of the woman who threatens their future and the life of their country.

With a bizarre sense of humour, the Belgian author and director Anne­ Cécile Vandalem explores one of the most potent political weapons of the present day: the power to make the masses sad. With an extremely precise interplay between theatre, video and specially composed music, the production illuminates the manipulative power of the media – and corruptibility through political censure, largely concealed but sometimes quite open. Performed by Vandalem’s own company, Das Fräulein, at the Festival d’Avignon, this gripping genre mix of dark crime story, political comedy and horror drama has already been met with great acclaim. For the German-speaking premiere, the director is reworking her play with the Burgtheater Ensemble.