About the work
“Gift. Eine Ehegeschichte” (original title “Gif”, in English “Poison”) is a play for one actress and one actor by the Dutch playwright Lot Vekemans. It premiered on 18 December 2009 at NTGent in Ghent, directed by Johan Simons with Elsie de Brauw and Steven Van Watermeulen. The German translation is by Eva M. Pieper and Alexandra Schmiedebach; the publisher lists a guest performance by NTGent in Cologne on 2 June 2011 as the German-language premiere.
Plot
A former married couple, referred to only as He and She, meet for the first time in about ten years since their separation, in the waiting room of the cemetery where their son is buried. They have been brought there by a letter stating that the soil is contaminated with toxic substances and the grave has to be moved. After the child's death He made a fresh start in France with a new partner, while She stayed in their shared house and holds on to her grief. Between accusations, shared memories and cautious closeness, the two look for a way to accept the past before they go their separate ways again.
Cultural significance
“Gif” won Lot Vekemans the Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs in 2010, and Elsie de Brauw received the Theo d’Or for her role in 2011. By 2016 the play had been seen in eighteen countries, including an Off-Broadway production in New York under the title “Poison”. In 2024 it was released as the film “Poison”, directed by Désirée Nosbusch and starring Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm.