About the work
“Egal” (roughly “Whatever” or “Never Mind”) is a two-hander by Marius von Mayenburg and, together with “Ex” and “Ellen Babić”, forms a trilogy about couples and power relations. It premiered in September 2023 in Icelandic translation under the title “Ekki málið” at the National Theatre of Iceland in Reykjavík, directed by the author. The first German-language production, directed by Thomas Jonigk, opened on 15 February 2025 at the Akademietheater of the Vienna Burgtheater as a double bill with “Ellen Babić”.
Plot
Simone, a successful electrical engineer, returns home from a business trip to her husband Erik, who has been looking after the household and children part-time. She has brought him a present, but Erik hesitates to open it. The reunion turns into a quarrel in which both trade accusations, and their roles keep flipping over the course of the evening.
Cultural significance
In the form of a sharp relationship comedy, Mayenburg examines equality, the unequal division of care work and people's own expectations of living together. Viennese critics read the double bill with “Ellen Babić” as a passage through current social debates about gender roles, care work and MeToo.