Ralf and Marta, a modern couple, are concerned about their careers, their healthy lifestyle, and their public image. Having quit her job as a lecturer, Marta decides to run for the position of the director of the institute and is meticulously preparing carefully for the competition. However, her life is disrupted by the news of a sudden resurfacing of her father who is in need of care. For many years, this man had been living with another woman, but when she died her children found Marta and told her that since she was his biological daughter, it was her duty to take care of the old man. This does not fit Marta’s strict agenda at all. What should she do? How will their life change? Should she reject him? The situation takes its toll on Marta and Ralf’s relationship. The daughter hasn’t got a single fond memory of the old man. How did he treat Marta as a child and how will he be treated now?
Europe is getting older, but what is the position of the elderly in society? Are they just old superfluous bodies? What is the relationship between children and parents, between abuse and care?
The creators of the play raise questions about how memory shapes our present. Rewriting the past, memories begin to construct a new narrative. Here, remembering is like finding out. The premonition of fear invades both the content and the form of Sulfur Magnolias: by dropping single erratic words into the mouths of his characters, Martin Algus generates tension, distrust, and anxiety.
