The Visit

Dürrenmatt‘s usual dark view of bourgeois society is on view in this play, first performed in 1956, where a rich old lady‘s visit to the small town where she grew up turns out to be a a modern variant on the format of a Greek tragedy. Claire Zachanassian promises the people of the impoverished town of Güllen a huge donation, but only on condition that they avenge the wrong that drove her out of the town by putting to death the grocer Alfred Ill, the man who deserted her fifty years ago. In the best Swiss tradition, all the key scenes of the play are set in the railway station. Dürrenmatt has fun getting his Greek chorus of citizens to represent trees, wild animals, and all sorts of other odd things. The dialogue might be 1950s show more Swiss, but the moral universe of the play is straight out of Sophocles or Aeschylus. show less

Very funny, lovely story about human weakness, idealism, and the pressures of economic hardship. Memorable to be finishing this on the day of the McCutcheon ruling.

There’s a lurid whisper of dread in The Visit. Elements of Bergman’s Summer With Monika find themselves in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. We only need the onion choppers from Die Blechtrommel.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this play but was pleasantly surprised. The author has a measured grasp of a simple proud populace concealing an atrocity. The hypocrisy of station exculpates but only to a degree.

Reminded me of what I recall about Twain's Corruption of Hadleyburg. Love the author's notes at the end about avoiding finding huge metaphors and symbolism. I was a bit dissapointed by the ending, thought the buying of the towns assets would come into play. But caught up in the story and how greed corrupts and a little frightening how I could begin to justify the loss of a life for comfort. Felt very European, which was a nice change from my usual reads.

I loved this play. It was so excellent. It richly describes the going-ons of a disfunctional town, and I love that. And the ending, it was perfect, and I really would have been disapointed in anything different (though some of my classmates state the opposite). The absurdist level was fun for the comedy and the tragedy, and I am glad I read it.

Went on a bit too much in parts of the third act, otherwise really good.

Great play. I performed this in college, and while the acting edition uses Maurice Valency's translation, I actually prefer this one. Patrick Bowles' faithful and sensitive translation from the original German provides a more dramatic voice for this outstanding Swiss play.