Bertolt Brecht Bobni v noči (Drums In the Night)
Trommeln in der Nacht, 1922
Comedy

 

Translated by Borut Trekman
Directed by Matjaž Pograjc

 

Opening  in February 2010

 

 

Four years after the War to end all wars (as World War I was once called) had finished, following his imprisonment in Africa a German soldier, Andreas Kragler, returns home. He roams about, looking for the love of his life, Anna Balicke. Many years of waiting, and Anna caved under her parents' pressure, agreeing to marry a rich man named Murko, a war profiteer who knows that any crisis is a chance for survival of the fittest. The town is torn by socio-political turmoil, people rally in the streets, protesting and fighting. Hope for a better life have sunk in poverty. In the dark and decadent atmosphere, lit by the light of the red moon, Anna, who is pregnant, and Murko celebrate their engagement. She sees Kragler she had cried for so much, but he is but a memory of his former self. No matter which of the two suitors Anna decides for, her peace will not be long lasting. We know that drums in the night are heralds of the rise of totalitarianism and a new War to end all wars.

 

Bertolt Brecht was awarded the Kleist prize for this early work. In his own, unique, witty and sharp way he portrays the story of little people against the backdrop of monumental historical events.  He intertwines intimate shocks with the ground shaking with riots in the streets. He plays with more than human fondness of one's own destiny and fatal blindness to global changes. He questions the institute of the theatre itself.