Karlsruhe in Germany is twinned with Nottingham in England and the Jakobus Theatre (Jakobus Theater in der Fabrik) is an amateur theatre that takes part in theatre exchanges with The Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham. The Jakobus Theatre productions are always of a very high standard and are presented in a way that differs from standard British amateur shows. This can be simply the set design and/or the modes of acting . They have a very strong European styling and it is always interesting to witness their productions, always directed by a professional. Unlike their UK equivalent, the Jakobus Theatre spread out these dramatic presentations over two or three months rather than a week-long show. Such is the case with Die Dinner Party by Neil Simon directed by Andreas Rūdenauer. The original American-English play text has been translated into German. It is a good translation and little is lost of Neil Simon’s original text craft.
When writing The Dinner Party, Neil Simon had originally conceived it as a farce but changed his comedy-drama ideas into something more serious yet partly holding on to his trademark wit and wordplay and absurdities. Having read the original one act script I can vouch for the absurd nature of the relationships based on themes of marriage, divorce and regrets. Whilst in real life one would hope that male strangers at a surprise party would be polite, in Simon’s theatrical world they have barely shaken hands before they start being quite personal and often rude about each other. I guess that is what makes dramas dramatic – a removal of normal behaviours.
In order of appearance the top quality cast are Burak Baran (Claude Pichon), Philip Mcdonald (Albert Donay), Christian Brunner (André Bouville), Mariette Levieux (Magdalena Maier), Yvonne Voucher (Jule Klessing), Gabrielle Buonocelli (Sabrina Gabriel). German Artist Lisa Harms has collaborated with the Jakobus Theatre and her large emotionally-influenced artworks , painted using champagne, as imbibed during the show, are a key part of the visual interpretation of the play. The classy set design of an exclusive Parisian restaurant is a team effort.
Neil Simon’s comedies and plays aren’t just funny, they often include introspection and realism, and reflect his own personal life in small and larger ways. He was married five times so one would guess, and commiserate somewhat, that he was quite the expert on wedded happiness and bitter divorces – both key emotional drivers of The Dinner Party.
This polished production is fast-paced, very amusing and, typically of Jakobus productions, acted to a very high standard throughout. Dependent on the emotional heat of the scenes the acting alternates between naturalistic and extravagant. It even has surprising moments of poignancy and retrospect. All performances are excellent and certainly reflect the bitter-sweet nature of Neil Simon’s dramatic intentions.
The German language play translated from the English by Jürgen Wölffer I am seeing this Friday evening (3rd October 2025) comes across as a very stylish and witty exposition. A few of Neil Simon’s barbs and intuitive pieces of dialogue from my English language script are shown below. This may be one of Neil Simon’s latter stage works but he hasn’t lost any of his sparkle on the variable subject of relationships.
MARIETTE: No, I meant that I was interested in.meeting new people, as opposed to just one person. I don’t think I am ready for just one person. Please don’t take that personally.
GABRIELLE: I was never against having children.
ANDRE: With us as parents? They’d wake up Christmas morning playing with tarantulas.
ANDRE: Do you know that primates are more successful at choosing mates than we are? And they rarely separate.
CLAUDE: That’s because there are not as many lawyers in the jungle.
One piece of text spoken by Jule Klessing gets one of the biggest laughs of the evening. Here it is in German and English. It’s reward is as much to do with her delivery and Neil Simon’s witty lines.
YVONNE: “Ich weiß, du warst sehr verärgert, als ich vorschlug, einen Spezialisten für kommunikativ gestörte Menschen aufzusuchen”
YVONNE: I know you were very upset, when I suggested, seeing a specialist for people with communicative disorders.
Sometimes as a theatre critic it is worth travelling a distance to see a play. This time instead of say, twenty miles, I have travelled hundreds of miles overseas and my expectations of a play in a foreign language have been blown out of the proverbial water. It is totally outstanding and only five more shows to go.
