About the work
Life x 3 (French: Trois versions de la vie) is the fifth play by the French writer Yasmina Reza. Its German-language premiere, translated by Eugen Helmlé, took place on 29 October 2000 at the Vienna Akademietheater, directed by Luc Bondy, while the French original premiered on 7 November 2000 at the Théâtre Antoine in Paris.
Plot
A couple, Hubert and Ines, visit their friends Henri and Sonja, a family of astrophysicists – but arrive a day early by mistake, catching their unprepared hosts with an empty kitchen. While a whining child in the next room keeps interrupting them, a piece of news Hubert casually drops about Henri's years of research work comes to dominate the evening. The play replays the same starting situation three times, each version ending differently for career, marriage and friendship.
Cultural significance
Following the worldwide success of "Art," the play confirmed Reza's reputation as a master of conversational comedy about bourgeois vanity, and it has been staged at venues including the Royal National Theatre in London and on Broadway.