Das Grosse Heft

THE BIG BOOKLET
by Agota Kristóf
In a version by Martina van Boxen
A production of the Rottstr 5 Theater

With
Lea Kallmeier, Alexander Ritter

Directed by
Martina van Boxen

Music by
Manuel Loos

Assistance
Rebecca Jooß, Carmelina Kißel

Set design
Michael Habelitz

Production management
Stanislav Otremba

Lighting
Martina van Boxen, Stanislav Otremba

photos
Jonas Domrath

production
Oliver Paolo Thomas, Alexander Ritter

Duration: approx. 90 minutes

Based on the trilogy "LE GRAND CAHIER" by AGOTA KRISTOF
© Editions du Seuil

"We come from the Great City. We have traveled all night. Our
Mother has red eyes. She's carrying a large cardboard box and each of us
a small suitcase with our clothes."

It is war. The big city is being bombed. Two children are sent to the countryside. The twins are to stay with their grandmother until the end of the war. But life in the village is merciless, the grandmother is hard on them and on herself, and the two children begin to adapt to this environment. Far away from school, they teach themselves what they need to survive: they harden their bodies with beatings and their minds with swear words. What initially seems like children's games soon serves only to arm themselves for survival in a society decomposed by war.
The children soon become independent actors in village life, observing their surroundings, exploiting weak points, learning to defend themselves and developing their very own moral concepts. The villagers are drawn like a magnet to the children, who, fascinated by their seemingly childlike innocence in the midst of war, are only able to admit their vulnerability and softness to the boys.

In her debut novel, published in 1987, Ágota Kristófs describes the life story of two brothers in precise sentences, in which reality, fiction and lies lie side by side. In simple, clear language, Agota Kristof poignantly and unembellishedly records a childhood that has nothing idyllic about it. She portrays the fate of two twin brothers growing up during the war, who fight for survival in a bad world in an astonishingly courageous way. Kristóf succeeds in telling an unsparing but never moralistic story about the self-empowerment of two children in a brutalized world that longs for warmth and security despite all its harshness.

"Her central work, DAS GROSSE HEFT (The Big Booklet), shakes the nerves, it opens the door to horror, disgust and pain, but it also touches our capacity for love and freedom." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Supported by the IngWer Foundation Bochum.

A great, tough evening. (WAZ)

This is absolutely worth seeing - and won't let the audience go so quickly. (WAZ)

Director Martina van Boxen has chosen a courageous path that demands a lot from her two actors. As a pair of twins, they retell the story, which is written in short, hard sentences, by speaking the text from beginning to end in chorus, i.e. simultaneously. (WAZ)

Every sentence, every gesture, every step across the stage is precisely rehearsed and obeys a predetermined rhythm, which is reinforced by Manuel Loos' music. As you watch, you can only imagine what an immense amount of work this must have been during rehearsals - and you can also see the two actors' full concentration that this play requires during the almost 100 minutes. (WAZ)

Despite all the heaviness and the icy atmosphere that characterize this production, it is a huge pleasure to watch Lea Kallmeier and Alexander Ritter in their acting tour de force. A thunderous final applause is the well-deserved reward. (WAZ)