Luise Rinser

After almost fifty years of marriage, Leo Tolstoy leaves his wife Sonja to end his life in complete loneliness. Using Sonja's diaries, Luise Rinser has drawn a precise portrait of marriage in this work, her first play. Mutual accusations and denunciations alternate with concessions and love incantations. Two absolutely subjective perspectives mean that events and occurrences are perceived in very different ways by husband and wife. That was the case during the marriage, and it also seems to be the case in their memories, and this prevents any sense of real communication and understanding between the partners. Using the example of Sonja and Leo Tolstoy, Luise Rinser reveals the drama of couples whose marriage is buried under misunderstanding and whose cohabitation is a living hell because of their inability to accept each other the way they are.
The monologic character of the play makes the miscommunication clear in all its horror. Luise Rinser does not take a side, but rather pits the couple’s statements against each other without succumbing to the temptation to denounce one or the other.