Beate Faßnacht

Die Brust von der Frau aus Chur
4 D, 2 H
UA: 20.09.2008 · Theater Basel · Directed by: Marie Bues
It was all white. From the snow.
Or it could have been the milk.
My cheeks, nearly glowing.
I was happy when milking. That wasn’t just because of Peter. Also
Because of the fresh air and the amount of time
still existing in the mountains.

For her love to Geißenpeter, she would do anything. The woman, whose biggest rival is a goat. An unconditional love she defends to the blood. She is envied this happiness of unlimited devotion by the neighbour with the screaming child, the unhappy wife of the policeman and her friend Clara, whose father has been talking to the Grim Reaper a lot recently.

All these characters and a policeman in love meet. They intrude into the reclusion of the woman, who believes herself to be one with Heidi. Who flees from reality in her pursuit of greater things. Who, freed from earthly burdens, devotes herself to her unrequited love for Peter. Who believes paradise to be far up the mountains and who, in assertive self-mutilation, sings a swansong to femininity.

In The Breast of the Woman from Chur, a relationship clashes with self-chosen isolation. The family with the screaming child searches for Heidi’s calmness, the police couple for her serenity and father-fixated Clara for her independence. The woman herself considers herself lucky in a mix of devotion to god and self-abandonment. What seems enviable at first becomes more and more unbearable for Heidi’s followers. HEIDI stands for unblemished innocence – and is loved for that. But this is only bearable in a mythical context.