About the work
Marius von Mayenburg's debut play was awarded at the Stückemarkt of the Berlin Theatertreffen in 1997 and premiered in 1998 at the Münchner Kammerspiele under Jan Bosse. The work made Mayenburg, then 26, one of Europe's most sought-after young dramatists. It is regarded as a milestone of the so-called New Realism of the 1990s — short scenes, sharpened dialogue, psychological precision with minimal stage requirements.
Plot
Kurt and Olga are siblings, at the beginning and middle of puberty. Their parents are staid, average, incapable of dealing with the children's violent emotions. Kurt, the elder brother, develops a pyromaniac obsession and at the same time slides into a sexual relationship with Olga. A schoolfriend named Paul joins them. In a sequence of condensed scenes the situation escalates: fires break out, the family becomes a battlefield, the incest becomes reality. At the end stands destruction — by fire and by the speaking of the unspeakable.
Cultural significance
Feuergesicht became the manifesto of a new generation of German dramatists and was translated into more than thirty languages. The play responded to the fascination with violence of the 1990s and offered a familial psychopathology in place of a superficial hunt for culprits. After this play the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz took Mayenburg on as house author, a position he holds to this day. Feuergesicht is regularly used as study material at drama schools.