Blind

Following the death of his wife, Richard lives in seclusion in a heavily guarded gated community. He has dismissed his long-serving housekeeper for no apparent reason. Now he is calling on his only daughter, Helen, to take on the responsibility of looking after him, as he is increasingly in need of care. There has long been a silence between father and daughter, as more divides them than unites them. Richard respects neither Helen’s idealistic approach to her career as a lawyer nor her choice of husband, a black intellectual. Helen, in turn, accuses her father of shying away from the challenges of a changing society, one in which issues of gender equality and racism are being considered more critically. During one of his daughter’s brief visits, the electric shutters suddenly close automatically – just as they are designed to do in the event of a break-in. Father and daughter are forced to endure the situation together.

“How are we to live together?” asks the most frequently performed Dutch playwright, Lot Vekemans, in her new play, striking a chord with the spirit of the times. She illustrates in a very human way the seemingly irreconcilable attitudes that cause dissent and conflict in many families and circles of friends.

○ “A clever, moving evening at the theatre at just the right time … here, two brilliant actors know exactly what they’re doing.” Donaukurier

Blind | Residenztheater Munich