SUMMER REFRESHMENT
The play received a prize at the comedy playwrights' competition in Lodz in 2010.
(trzecim miejscem podczas konkursu "Comediopia")
and premiered in May 2011 at the Teatr Powszechny in Lodz.
Characters
Tobias Reizschneider – a very well-known actor. Late forties.
Ingo Wolkowski – his long-time playing partner. Early fifties.
Mr. Specht – a diaper manufacturer. Mid-sixties.
Mrs. Specht – his wife. Mid-forties
Margit – sister of Mrs. Specht. Somewhat younger.
Ms. Düsseldorf – friend of Ms. Specht. Also in her mid-forties.
Rüdiger Boll – a publicist. Early fifties.
Flapke – playwright. Late twenties.
Carmen – girl for everything. Mid-twenties.
Location: Terrace and garden of a villa by the sea (Baltic Sea)
Time: The last or the next summer.
ACTION
A cultured businesswoman has courted a famous actor and invited him to spend the summer at her seaside home. There, Reizschneider appears with his longtime stage and screen partner Wolkowski (the two are a well-known film and stage duo and have known each other for twenty years). Reizschneider is penniless, an alcoholic, and living off his past. Wolkowski (who has always suffered in his friend's shadow) is constantly busy keeping his friend afloat.
Also present are the egomaniacal, high-strung young playwright Flapke and the vain publicist Boll, Flapke's mentor and appointed "tutor," as well as Frau Specht's former lover. Then there is Frau Düsseldorf, the widow of a wealthy meatpacking magnate. Sexually starved, she initially feeds off her friend's lavish love life and then prepares a campaign to win back Boll, Frau Specht's former lover.
Another guest at the Specht house is Margit – the hostess's cantankerous, intelligent sister. She lashes out at everyone, and someone like Reizschneider, who reveals his artistic talent, is particularly targeted by this merciless observer.
And there, of course, is also Mr. Specht, the factory owner: lonely – unmotivated, suffering from his own inner turmoil – but with a clear view of the people around him.
Carmen, the young, pragmatic, and patient girl who does everything for the guests, serves as a sober mirror to all these distorted characters. In the end, she unexpectedly rises to become the mistress of the house.
Ms. Specht, along with Reizschneider and Wolkowski, plans to premiere the play by the young, "brilliant" playwright Flapke. Rehearsals are to take place here at the summer resort. Reizschneider agreed because he somehow wants to get his hands on Ms. Specht's money. Wolkowski knows nothing of this and thinks Reizschneider is genuinely interested in the play. When the first reading of the "brilliant" new play takes place, Wolkowski reacts with utter horror. Reizschneider has to confess that he has made a bad investment, is completely broke, and only came for the money.
So they circle the terrace by the sea, feigning erudition and idealism, selling their vanities as virtues, and attempting to feather their own nests through shady dealings – until – yes, until Mr. Specht, who sees through everything but has wisely remained silent – joins forces with the mysterious Margit. Together, and with the support of Mr. Wolkowski's theatrical talent, they weave an intrigue that thoroughly disrupts this illustrious society.
REVIEWS
Good theatrical material with subtle humor. The dialogues seem simple – but behind them lies a concentrated ambiguity – indeed, something profound.
Everyone here plays a part; they live to pretend. Culture, love, marriage, friendship – everything is infected with the virus of lies. "Summer Retreat" is a tragicomedy.
(Catherine Badowska - Gazeta Wyborcza Łódź)
What I like best about "Sommerfrische" is the interplay between the financial elite and real or imagined artistic life. A wonderful comedy unfolds between these two spheres, about people at a crossroads, unsure which path to take in a world where money rules everything and everyone. Overall, a very bleak picture is presented.
(Janusz Majcherek, "World of the Stage" on Polish Radio 2.)
This feeling of alienation is present in Apke's dramas. It is a characteristic feature of the characters in his plays. They are strangers because of their experiences ("Departure," "Thank You, Dad"), the loss of closeness ("Cold Showers"), their otherness ("Adonis Gets a Visitor"), the accumulation of lies ("Letnisco"), their desires ("Closed Due to Illness"), their way of life and thinking ("The Chicken on Its Back"), their origins ("The Baron Arrives Barefoot..."). They carry this alienation into the world of others... The consequences of this are shown in Fred Apke's insightful plays.
(Grażyna Korzeniowska AICT Poland (Polish section of the International Association of Theatre Critics))
