The Exception and the Rule

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the death of the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, ETHAL presents his play "The Exception and the Rule", translated and adapted by Giorgos Neofytou and directed by Minas Tigkilis.

The Exception and the Rule (in German Die Ausnahme und die Regel) is a short play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht and is one of several Lehrstücke (Teaching plays) he wrote around 1929/30. The objective of Brecht's Lehrstücke was that they be taken on tour and performed in schools or in factories to educate the masses about socialist politics.

It tells the story of a rich merchant, who must cross the fictional Yahi Desert to close an oil deal. During the trip the class differences between him and his working-class porter (or "coolie" as he is called in most English language editions) are shown. As he becomes increasingly afraid of the desert, the merchant's brutality increases, and he feels terribly alone without police nearby to protect him. Eventually when the Merchant fires his guide, the porter and the Merchant himself get lost and the water supplies are running low. The Merchant mistakenly shoots the coolie, thinking he was being attacked, when he was in reality being offered some water the coolie still had left in his bottle. Later, in a court room scene, the evidence of the murder is presented, and ultimately the Merchant is acquitted. The Judge concludes that the Merchant had every right to fear a potential threat from the coolie, and that he was justified in shooting the coolie in self-defense regardless of whether there was an actual threat, or whether the Merchant simply felt threatened.

Translation into Greek: Giorgos Neophytou.
Director: Minas Tigilis, the Artistic Director of ETHAL
Sets: Carolina Spyrou
Costumes: Miranda Theodoridou,
Music composer: George Kolias
Lighting design: Panagiotis Manousis.
Starring: Costas Vichas, Marina Vrondi, Maria Philippou, Vasilis Charalambous, Stelios Andronicou, Andreas Nicolaides

(in Greek)