Theater Poetenpack HAPPINESS (LE BONHEUR)

The charm of chance encounters lies in the fact that they usually bring together people who are actually a complete mismatch. Louise and Alexandre meet one evening and take a liking to one another. Both are well into their fifties and still ‘open to a bit of flirting’. But that’s as far as it goes. Louise writes children’s books and, after six years of marriage, has realised she isn’t cut out for it. Alexandre, the owner of a thriving restaurant and father of three, is in the process of getting a divorce.

As it happens, on the way home, they agree to have one more drink upstairs at her flat, and they spend the night together. The morning after brings the sobering reality: “Shall we meet again?” she asks. “Very soon,” replies Alexandre vaguely. Louise hides the key – Alexandre is trapped in her flat.

And so a thoroughly amusing story unfolds. Both middle-aged and shaped by very different experiences, they are clearly driven by a longing for a happy relationship. This doesn’t happen without conflicts, countless misunderstandings, lies and revelations, and immensely funny moments. After all, does the maturity that comes with age make us more tolerant or less willing to compromise? And is it even possible to change at all? Is one’s romantic past an asset – or rather a liability? And do people actually still believe in ‘true love’? Love and life as a couple: an equation that works out less and less often as we get older, but perhaps this time it will.

With‘Glück’, the Poetenpack Theatre presents another hit play by the French author Eric Assous, following on from ‘Achterbahn’.

Starring Andrea Seitz and Reiner Gabriel
Directed by Markus Schoenen
Set and costume design by Janet Kirsten