Herbert Achternbusch

Kopf und Herz is a young woman’s view of her life and of life itself. It’s the view of Herbert Achternbusch’s mother. But it’s more than that:
Kopf und Herz is – like Ella, like Gustl – a monologue like a flowing river, breathless and without breaks, but not a true monologue, for the woman talks to the unwanted child in her belly. The child doesn’t even have a name yet, but a big mouth… the young woman is an athlete, ‘dreaming of an international career’. Getting pregnant is the last thing she wanted: ‘you’re in the way, bastard.’ She wants to get rid of the child, she wants her freedom back. The baby, a know-all little shit, fights back with all he has: ‘Even when I have to be inside of you, I have my very own world. Don’t sin, I’m only your guest.’
While they fight like this, a life’s story develops. …It’s a juicy, floating, strangely touching play, filled with biographical details and many beautiful Achternbusch-sentences…

"Kopf und Herz seamlessly fits into the big, autobiographic novel of his life, which, in the end, consists of all the texts Achternbusch has written: stories of the world according to poor Herbert.” (Theaterheute)