![]() ![]() This suggests that behind the clean, respectable, moral facade of this Swiss town, there is a swamp of moral filth and degradation. The name of the small town, Guellen, is appropriate, since the German word ‘die Gülle’ means ‘slurry’ or ‘liquid manure’. Indeed, the play has connotations of National Socialist Germany, in which people were very often denounced and hunted down by their neighbours (from a variety of motives). People have been known to betray their neighbours for financial profit. The play is an absurd comedy, but it also has the ring of truth. Once a respected member of the community, Alfred Ill is hunted down and murdered by his fellow citizens. In the play, the richest woman in the world arrives in a small Swiss town, Guellen, and puts a price on the head of her ex-lover, the man who betrayed her, Alfred Ill. It is also a classic text for university students, and still popular in theatres. ![]() Der Besuch der alten Dame The Visit, or The Old Lady Comes to Call (first performed and published 1956)ĭürrenmatt’s most famous play has been taught to generations of A-Level students in England. ![]()
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