Malaga – Parcifal – Twenty Thousand Pages

A couple has just split up, between them a child. Vera wants to go to Malaga for the weekend with her new boyfriend; Michael is due at a conference. A babysitter has to be taken on quickly, even though, right from the beginning, there is some doubt about whether he is the right person for the job. But where there´s a will, there´s a way to soothe your own conscience. And when catastrophe strikes, it can no longer be stopped.

Parcifal grows up in the wilderness and enters the world. But he fails to understand its rules. And the more he tries to follow them, the less he understands himself. The boy can leave the wilderness, but the wilderness can´t leave the boy. He is guilty of doing wrong, but is he in fact innocent?

In the end he is shown the mercy of God. But why?
A box of books falls on Daniel´s head. There are 20000 pages in there, all of which he finds he can suddenly recite off by heart. Is this a happy coincidence that he can use to his own advantage? Or a curse, because Daniel starts talking about things that no one wants to know about, least of all in a talent show? But what happens if there is only self-righteous hypocrisy behind the telling of truths?
Bärfuss´ plays tell stories that are related to our everyday lives and yet discuss wide-ranging themes such as guilt, responsibility, individual fulfillment – funny, tragic, grotesque. Full of unexpected turns. Exciting.



Bärfuss lets things start off like a piece of conversation and swell to a tragedy of Greek proportions.
Andreas Klaeui, Frankfurter Rundschau

Lukas Bärfuss, born in 1971 in Thun/Switzerland, is one of the most successful contemporary German dramatists. His plays are performed throughout the world. His debut novel »One Hundred Days« was a huge success, nominated for the German and Swiss Book Prizes and translated into 15 languages. Lukas Bärfuss lives in Zurich.

Awards:
Mühlheim Dramatist Prize (2005), Book Prize from the City of Bern (2005),
Spycher Literature Prize (2007), Anna-Seghers Prize (2008), Mara-Cassens Prize for the best German debut novel (2009), Schiller Prize from the Swiss Schiller Foundation, Erich-Maria-Remarque Peace Prize (2009), Hans-Fallada Prize from the town of Neumünster (2010).

Rights sold:
Spanish world: Qatenus / Eduvim
Bulgaria: Black Flamingo

Also published by Wallstein:
Meienbergs Tod – Die sexuellen Neurosen unserer Eltern – Der Bus (Meienberg´s Death – The Sexual Neuroses of our Parents – The Bus). Plays (2005)
Alices Reise in die Schweiz – Die Probe – Amygdala (Alice goes to Switzerland – The Test – Amygdala). Plays (2007)
Hundert Tage (One Hundred Days). Novel (2008)
Öl (Oil). Drama (2009)