Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant

Festival production of the 16th Stuttgart European Theater Meeting SETT 2024 Theater tri-bühne Stuttgart | Eberhardstr. 61a

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Production: Dániel Sándor Máté

After her divorce from her second husband, Petra opens her heart and her home to the young Hungarian Kriszta. Inspired by her new muse, Petra draws fresh energy and begins to dream of a second youth and a future together. It seems as if a time capsule opens for Petra, releasing nostalgic feelings. The past time, the rock'n roll of her youth awakens in her and she dreams: "What if...?".

Kriszta came to Germany from her home country via Australia and is looking for her place in the world here. With little knowledge of the language and culturally illiterate, she tries to find her way here. Petra promises her emotional and financial freedom. They become a couple, but Kriszta feels increasingly overwhelmed by Petra's feelings and she moves away from her again. "I think people are made in such a way that they need other people, but... they haven't learned how to be together."

The unrequited love, the loss and the increasing uncertainty about Kriszta's intentions plunge Petra into a deep inner crisis. She not only loses Kriszta, but also herself. Petra's inner collapse becomes apparent to everyone: her right-hand woman Marlene, her friend Sidonie, her daughter Gabi and her mother Valerie.

Almost 50 years ago, Rainer Werner Fassbinder wrote "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant": a moving story about the search for belonging, for a home, for a family. A story in which the boundaries between power and abuse, honesty and humiliation, love and obsession become blurred. We redraw the interpersonal catastrophes of the drama, as if under a burning glass.