Stefan Schütz

At centre stage are Groß and Gross. They are both coming to terms with their existence in different and yet similar, twinned ways. One of them, Gross, is permanently fleeing from imaginary persecutors whom he calls the “Half Pints” and which he takes to be a gigantic group of conspirators. The other, Groß, thinks he can end world suffering and, without being asked to, follows his fellow men with his goodness. He is being destroyed by the disassociation between desire and possibility.
While Gross elevates his existence, in which he sees himself as the centre of ominous machinations, views himself as worth being pursued, Groß gives his life meaning by taking himself to be worthy of sacrifice. But his affection for his fellow men does not make life more rational or bearable; rather, it completely exposes its meaninglessness. In its middle section, the play gives a good example of this process.
Groß wants to leave his friends Schmidt and Ziegler because his girlfriend Sophie needs help. The friends accuse him of betrayal and try to stop him. Groß, who would prefer to go, nevertheless follows them and has to get them out of a bind by telling the police that they are both madmen who he, the doctor, is using in an experiment. He has barely finished helping his friends when he feels obliged to inform his friend’s wife, Hannah, of what has happened, even though Sophie has been waiting for him for a long time. Hannah uses him to get pregnant and afterwards doesn’t recognise him anymore, while his friend rapes Sophie.