"The Visit of the Old Lady"

Friedrich Dürrenmatt's worldwide success tells the story of Claire Zachanassian, who returns to her impoverished hometown as a billionaire, where her heart was once broken and her honor taken from her. She promises prosperity for all - and demands a murder in return.

With the dry humor of a keen observer of human nature and the profound insight of a soul-searcher, the author raises questions about individual morality and depicts, in comically abyssal scenes, a society that threatens to disregard all rules.

For Friedrich Torberg, it is "the old lady Corruption, [...] the old lady Temptation, the old lady Speculation on human greed" who visits the town of Güllen. The reaction of the citizens of Güllen proves "the human willingness to become accustomed to inhumanity and to what is recognized as inhuman." The play, "originally subtitled Comedy of Economic Boom," is interpreted "in the East as a satire on capitalism."