LAS AMARGAS LÁGRIMAS DE PETRA VON KANT

Petra von Kant, a successful designer recently separated from her second husband, lives with her secretary Marlene, who is both her assistant and almost her slave. When one of her close friends introduces her to Karin, a young opportunist from humble origins, Petra falls hopelessly in love with her and promises to turn her into an international model. The two women then embark on a tumultuous relationship.

The bitter tears of Petra von Kant —written feverishly during a flight between Berlin and Los Angeles and premiered in 1971— belongs to the most brilliant period of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1946-1982). The play, which would be adapted into a film the following year, was praised by international critics for its stylised portrait of romantic un-love in a purely female universe. The German playwright, who revitalised Brechtian heritage with American melodrama, pulls out all the stops to speak to us about loneliness and domination in this sapphic love story that unfolds in ellipses and silences. Rakel Camacho adapts and directs this classic of the European repertoire with a refreshing touch, rich in imagery, exploring themes of power dynamics, obsessive love, and the toxic need to seek acceptance in the eyes of others.