The Visit – Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Kefallinias Street Theatre — Stage A

First performance: November 18, 2008

A parable on the omnipotence of money

Claire Zachanassian, an eccentric, immensely wealthy old woman arrives to the impoverished, dying town where she was born and raised. Everyone hopes that she will help her destitute homeland. The old woman offers to provide them with a huge sum of money, on one condition: That they kill one of their fellow citizens, Ill, who abandoned her and their child when they were 17, leading to her being disgraced and banished from the local community. Upon her departure, Claire swore to return and seek revenge. And now her time has come… At first, everyone refuses, repulsed by the offer, but gradually self-interest undermines and erodes their “virtue”. They protest in the open, but quietly negotiate with their own conscience. And greed slowly transforms all these individuals into willing murderers. In the end, the entire town is “contaminated”, and the “mark” (himself only a human stoically accepting his fate) is brutally killed…

“I depict people, not marionettes – an act, not an allegory – I present a world, not a moral lesson” says Dürrenmatt regarding his work in his Selected Writings. As a follower of the “New Objectivity” movement in German literature, the author denies that The Visit carries any symbolism. However, the symbolism emerges on its own, whether the author wants it or not. The Visit becomes a “monstrous” parable on the omnipotence of money, which corrupts consciences, undermines moral principles, debases all feelings, and gradually creates “a new world order.”

Ploritis M., Faces of Modern Drama, Galaxias Publishing, Athens, 1965. From the performance’s programme, curated by Iosif Vivlakis.