{"id":11930,"date":"2026-05-18T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11930"},"modified":"2026-05-18T09:55:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:55:38","slug":"from-the-archives-the-visit-by-friederich-durrenmatt-adapted-into-english-by-maurice-valency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11930","title":{"rendered":"From the Archives: The Visit by Friederich Du\u0308rrenmatt, adapted into English by Maurice Valency\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog post was written by Maris Tiller, SCRC Research Services GRA. Maris is\u00a0<\/em>a Graduate student pursuing her Master\u2019s in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction.<\/p>\n

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Swiss playwright Friederich\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s tragicomic play\u00a0<\/span>Der\u00a0Besuch\u00a0der\u00a0Alten\u00a0Dame<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(direct translation:\u00a0<\/span>The Visit of the Old Lady<\/span><\/i>)\u00a0premiered in\u00a0Zurich in\u00a01956\u00a0to\u00a0great success.\u00a0That same year, playwright Maurice Valency brought the play to British audiences,\u00a0called simply\u00a0<\/span>The Visit<\/span><\/i>. Here at SCRC, we have a published copy of the script for\u00a0this production.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Der\u00a0Besuch\u00a0der\u00a0Alten\u00a0Dame<\/span><\/i>\u00a0tells the story of a small town,\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len, once a\u00a0mildly successful township<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0now in economic straits.\u00a0As the play opens, the town is preparing for the arrival of\u00a0the billionaire\u00a0Claire Zachanassian, who grew up in\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0and was the lover of\u00a0Alfred\u00a0Ill,,\u00a0the beloved owner of the town\u2019s general store. The\u00a0citizens\u00a0hope that Claire will give them money to reinvigorate their town,\u00a0which, upon her arrival, she offers to do. Claire offers one billion Swiss francs on the condition that\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0collaborate to\u00a0kill Alfred\u00a0Ill,\u00a0as he, along with the town,\u00a0betrayed\u00a0her many years ago when she became pregnant from their affair.\u00a0At first, the\u00a0people\u00a0invoke\u00a0their\u00a0\u201cWestern values\u201d,\u00a0saying they would never do such a thing. However, throughout\u00a0Act II and III, the town\u00a0becomes more lavish\u00a0with\u00a0this promise of money,\u00a0buying things on credit. It becomes increasingly clear, both to the audience and Ill, that\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0will fulfill Claire\u2019s desires.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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This first English production, directed by Peter Brook, was not a direct translation of\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s\u00a0play.\u00a0Valency is credited\u00a0as an adapter of the play, rather than a translator, and\u00a0Valency\u2019s version of the play changes a lot of key details\u00a0from\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s\u00a0original\u00a0that simplifies the play\u2019s story and themes.\u00a0For example,\u00a0at the\u00a0end of\u00a0act two,\u00a0Alfred Ill (in Valency\u2019s\u00a0version\u00a0Anton Schill) attempts\u00a0to leave the town\u00a0and the people of\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0surround him at the train station.\u00a0In the direct translation of the text, it is ambiguous\u00a0whether\u00a0the townspeople, as they surround him at the train station, are planning to murder him\u00a0right\u00a0then, keep him in\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len,\u00a0or if Ill is simply paranoid.\u00a0Regardless, he misses the train and must stay, claiming he is \u201clost\u201d\u00a0(62).\u00a0The power in\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s\u00a0play, and in this scene,\u00a0is seeing the gradual transformation of the town\u00a0into something sinister, and the uncertainty present\u00a0in any given moment what\u00a0their plans are.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In Valency\u2019s version, however, Ill makes the concrete decision to stay in\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0after missing the train,\u00a0claiming he belongs in\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len,\u00a0it\u00a0is his town, and he will not leave it.\u00a0This makes Ill\/Schill feel like a\u00a0more confusing character, a\u00a0choice\u00a0that\u00a0feels unmotivated, based on the preceding scene.\u00a0It also removes a lot of Ill\u2019s sense of isolation that is so palpable through act two and act three<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0as\u00a0G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0spends\u00a0the promised money and\u00a0making it more likely\u00a0they will have to kill him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Another important and strange change happens\u00a0in act three, in a conversation between Ill\/Schill and the schoolteacher. Schill\u2019s\u00a0character\u00a0is\u00a0presented\u00a0throughout the play as the moral compass who\u00a0slowly becomes disillusioned with his ideals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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This interaction has a different nuance depending on the version. <\/span>In the adaptation, the schoolteacher uses language that is far less self-condemning than in the translation. \u201cPerhaps\u201d he will join the townspeople in the murder of Schill; the schoolteacher in the translation states that he simply will. In addition to this, the phrase \u201c\u2026one day an old lady will come for us too\u2026\u201d (77) is cut in its entirety, removing the sense that, whatever G<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>l<\/span>len\u00a0buries, it will come back to haunt them. Valency turns\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s\u00a0play into more of a\u00a0story about\u00a0a town\u2019s\u00a0quick\u00a0descent into evil.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the\u00a070 years since\u00a0<\/span>Der\u00a0Besuch\u00a0der\u00a0Alten\u00a0Dame\u00a0<\/span><\/i>premiered, it has had a plethora of adaptations\u00a0from all around the world.\u00a0In 1964, a film version was made starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, in which\u00a0the town does not kill Ill (in this version called Serge). His punishment for his crimes, rather,\u00a0is having to continue living in a town that would have\u00a0killed him; the town\u2019s punishment is the guilt\u00a0over\u00a0knowing they would have killed him.\u00a0The Senegalese film\u00a0<\/span>Hyenas<\/span><\/i>\u00a0from 1992 is more faithful to the events and characters of\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s\u00a0play\u00a0but sets it in\u00a0the village of\u00a0Colobane\u00a0in Senegal.\u00a0There is even a musical version of\u00a0<\/span>The Visit<\/span><\/i>, composed by Cander and Ebb, composers of classic musicals like\u00a0<\/span>Cabaret\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and\u00a0<\/span>Chicago<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0Across these adaptations, much like Valency\u2019s, sometimes Durrenmatt\u2019s characters and themes stay intact, and sometimes they\u00a0don\u2019t. Such is the nature of\u00a0adaptation for art works that strike a chord\u00a0within someone\u2019s consciousness, no matter the time or place in which it happens.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sources<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n