Bertha and Bertman by Zsolt Pozgai

Drama/ 1 Man, 1 Woman/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis: Bertha, a nurse, lives peacefully in her apartment in Austria. She has had no success in finding a partner, but has resigned herself to the situation. One day, an unexpected guest arrives. Her love from grammar school — an established, wealthy man, youthful and athletic. But lonely. He lives with his mother, who is terminally ill. He needs somebody, a partner who loves him.

Bertha welcomes him. They live together. The man takes her on fabulous journeys. They sometimes visit his mother in the hospital. She is glad that her son is happy and has found someone.

Bertha and Bertman’s sexual, physical encounters are wonderful. Everything is perfect.

Then Bertman’s mother dies. Bertman thanks Bertha for everything she has done for him. Bertha realizes that the man was with her only to calm down his mother, to demonstrate that he had a partner, would have children, and his mother would have grandchildren. He pretended to enjoy their encounters, and pretended to be in love. But it was all a ruse.

Bertha is devastated. She kills the man. Everything she thought to be true, has turned out to be a lie. There is no mercy.

This drama is based on a real story.

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Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Zsolt Pozsgai
H-7630 Pécs, Tétény u. 28.
Ph.: 00-36-30-2791324
horatiofilm@gmail.com

About the Playwright: Award-winning dramatist Zsolt Pozsgai’s plays have been seen worldwide. He is a winner of the European Drama Award, and three-time winner of the Hungarian Playwright’s Competition. Liselotte in May, his most performed play, premiered at the Deutsches Theater, Budapest, Hungary, in May, 2002 and has since been seen in over 22 stagings from New York City to Geneva, Switzerland to Vancouver, Canada. By the end of 2014, 57 of Pozsgai’s pieces, including tragedies, comedies, farces, and plays with music, had been performed in 87 theatres. He has also worked widely as a stage director, and as a writer and director for film and TV.

Bertha and Bertman will premiere in Budapest, Hungary in February, 2022.