Schimmelpfennig: Plays One

The Animal Kingdom; Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God; Idomeneus; The Four Points of the Compass

Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Tushingham

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781783190959
• eBook ISBN: 9781783195947
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre Playwriting

Roland Schimmelpfennig is the most performed contemporary German playwright. This collection demonstrates the breadth and formal innovation of his writing. The Animal Kingdom depicts the unremitting battle for human survival in a merciless environment: the theatre. Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God has been likened to a post-colonial Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Here two doctors who have returned from Africa reveal the true cost of their failure to combat a terrible and frightening disease. Idomeneus is a narrative play written for a large chorus which re-tells the classical Idomeneus myth in contemporary terms; a fractured, mythic tidal wave, brought to life with astounding theatricality by an ensemble of storytellers. A small narrative piece, The Four Points of the Compass is an urban fable of crossed destinies and uncanny coincidences and a compelling contemporary tale of lust for life and the fragility of existence.

THE FOUR POINTS OF THE COMPASS

The Four Points of the Compass (Die vier Himmelsrichtungen) was given its world premiere on 30th July 2011 at the Landestheater Salzburg in a co-production between the Salzburg Festival and the Deutsches Theater Berlin with the following cast:

A Man	Ulrich Matthes
A Young Woman	Kathleen Morgeneyer
A Strong Man	Andreas Döhler
A Woman	Almut Zilcher

Director: Roland Schimmelpfennig

CHORUS

A MAN

A YOUNG WOMAN

A STRONG MAN

A WOMAN

Music.

1.

THE YOUNG WOMAN:

You’re Medusa, he says

and I’m Perseus,

look at these stars,

look, curls, like snakes –

Perseus is always linked with snakes,

because Perseus cut Medusa’s head off,

and Medusa had hair made of snakes.

Curly snakes.

Hey, says Perseus,

hey, you’ve got curls, like snakes,

you could be Medusa –

Medusa?

And I’m Perseus, with the stars,

who went up to the stars,

Perseus and Medusa, there’s got to be something in that.

And she goes: you think so?

Perseus and Medusa? D’you really think so?

They’re just curls.

And she says,

if you’re Perseus

and I’m Medusa,

then you’ll have to cut my head off,

hey,

do you want to cut my head off,

you can if you want,

it’s always hurting so much anyway,

don’t be like that now, not you,

I want to kiss you,

I want to kiss you,

he says

THE MAN:

I want to kiss you,

I want to kiss you,

he says

THE YOUNG WOMAN:

and she says:

well,

to be honest:

I’ve already got someone,

but,

he says, us two,

we belong together,

Perseus and Medusa,

we could

be a double act,

no, she says, really –

Short pause.

We walked together along the riverbank,

to the place

where the big wheel is,

and he said,

do you want to go on it,

and I said yes,

and then he asked: Have you been on before?

Yes – does it matter?

No.

Music.

2.

THE WOMAN:

A woman came from the East,

she brought snow with her and ice,

she came by train,

but the train could go no further,

because there was so much snow on the track,

so the woman got out

and stayed in the city for twenty years.

I’ll see when the next train is,

she thought,

as she got off the train,

She could see into the future,

just not her own.

Music.

3.

THE YOUNG WOMAN:

Two men,

hitting each other.

One is shorter, or wirier,

and the other is st...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• ‘The Theatre Needs Challenges’
• The Animal Kingdom
• Idomeneus
• Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God
• The Four Points of the Compass