Vier Bilder der Liebe

This volume comprises four plays by Lukas Bärfuss: Vier Bilder der Liebe [Four Pictures of Love], Die Reise von Klaus und Edith durch den Schacht zum Mittelpunkt der Erde, [The Journey of Klaus and Edith through the Core to the Middle Point of the Earth], Öl [Oil] and Malaga [Malaga]. “Isn’t there a law, that protects lovers from betrayal?” The laws of love, guilt and anarchy of the heart are the main themes in the play Vier Bilder der Liebe, which the author calls a “middle-class tragedy”. However, in the other three plays the focus is also on the relationships between lovers and within the family – brought precisely to the point, sometimes downright destructive and, overall, deeply pessimistic. So it is said in Die Reise von Klaus und Edith durch den Schacht zum Mittelpunkt der Erde: “Even in the middle point of the earth it isn’t as black as it is in our hearts”.