Ein sanfter Tod (A very easy death)
by Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Paul Mayer, stage adaptation by Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stieglerby Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Paul Mayer, stage adaptation by Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stiegler
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Suddenly the phone rings and life changes from one day to the next. This was also what Simone de Beauvoir and her sister experienced when they found out that their mother was in hospital. Simone de Beauvoir describes honestly and movingly what it means to bid farewell to the person who gave you life. Following the success of «(Non)Mothers!» the actors Sibylle Canonica, Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stiegler produce the stage premiere of this personal piece of world literature.
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«Your mother has had a fall». On 24 October 1963 Simone de Beauvoir received a telephone call. For a moment everything stood still. She started measuring time in a new way: for four weeks she stayed with her mother in hospital together with her sister Hélène – caught between hope and worry, intimacy and estrangement. Shortly after her mother Françoise’s death, she wrote «A Very Easy Death».
Suddenly nothing can be taken for granted any more and the world has shrunk to the dimensions of a hospital room. In «A Very Easy Death» de Beauvoir describes with merciless clarity and moving openness what it means to bid farewell to the woman who has given you life. And how painful it is to let go – in the moment when you achieve true intimacy for the first time.
Why does her mother’s death affect her so deeply although their relationship had been a distant one for some time? «This time despair escaped my control. Somebody else was weeping inside me», de Beauvoir writes.
«A Very Easy Death» is a deeply personal exploration of dying, family roles, female autonomy – and with the question of whether being a daughter ends when your mother dies.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir’s partner, considered this to be the great philosopher and writer’s most important book. Following the success of «(Non)Mother!s» the actors Sibylle Canonica, Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stiegler will create the stage premiere of «A Very Easy Death». Two performers and a foley artist search for a sensual and visual translation of the two daughters’ experiences with their dying mother: «We lived through the dress rehearsal for our own funeral. Unfortunately, this adventure, which is common to all, is one that everyone goes through alone».
