The Merchant's Contracts

(Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns)

Cast

variable casting, min. 5 actors

Greed meets greed in Elfriede Jelinek's dark comedy of commerce: the investors’ greed for ever growing returns, and the bankers’ greed for maximum revenue. Recent history has proven that these excesses of either one inevitably will lead to disaster. But capitalism is far from reaching its end - after the crash is like before the crash and in no time million Dollar bonuses for advisors have become everyday routine in the banking industry again.... The Merchant's Contracts is the play of the hour, and therefore Jelinek remains the most astute, spot-on literary chronicler to date.... her characteristic technique to let her associative language pirouette around itself in ever new turns, here becomes a congenial principle.... the text is precise, perfidious and polemic - in all directions.... (Jelinek) stimulates a desire for thinking. And thinking, as has been shown by another who used drama to depict a global economic crisis, thinking induces change.)" (Theatre der Zeit) "Praise the economic crisis for bringing forth such a play.» (die Tageszeitung)

World premiere
16.04.2009 Schauspiel Köln / Thalia Theater Hamburg (Director: Nicolas Stemann)

Translations
Bulgarian (Translator: Vladko urdarov)
Czech Obchodníkovy smlouvy (Translator: Barbora Schnelle)
Dutch De contracten van de koopman (Translator: Inge Arteel)
Dutch premiere 16.10.2009 NT Gent (Director: Johan Simons)
English The Merchant's Contracts (Translator: Gitta Honegger)
Norwegian (Translator: Mons Andreas Finne Vedøy)
Norwegian premiere 12.11.2011 Rogaland Teater, Stavanger (Director: Jonas Corell Petersen)
Polish Kupieckie Kontrakty (Translators: Malgorzata Sugiera / Mateusz Borowski)
Polish premiere 17.06.2011 Dramatyczny Theater Warschau (Translator: Malgorzata Sugiera und Mateusz Borowski, Director: Pawel Miskiewicz)
Portuguese Os Contratos do Comerciante (Translator: Helena Topa)
Portuguese premiere 14.06.2012 Ponto Teatro (Translator: Helena Topa, Director: Emanuel de Sousa)
Slova: Obchodníkove kontrakty (Translator: Andrej Zmeček)
Spanish Los Contratos del comerciante (Translators: Svenn Olsson & Pola Iriarte)
Swedish Köpmannens Kontrakt (Translator: Magnus Lindman)
Swedish premiere 17.09.2011 Dramaten, Stockholm (Translator: Magnus Lindman, Director: Mellika Meouani Melani)

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