Liebes Publikum:
Freuen Sie sich auf einen gebrochenen Zeh, auf einen Blue-Jeans-Song, auf eine Frau, die nicht weiß was sie will, auf Dieter, der keinen Spaß versteht, auf einen tätowierten Zaremba aus Russland, auf einen genervten Addi und die kuriose Erfindung Edgars!
Summaries of Acts 1 and 2:
Act 1:
Edgar Wibeau’s father sees a death announcement for his son, who he hasn’t seen for 12 years. Shocked and saddened by this terrible news, he sets out to learn about his son through the people that knew him before his death. All the while, Edgar’s ghost comments on events and reflects on his own naïveté and foolishness. The father first visits Edgar’s mother, then Mrs. Flemming, and then Edgar’s best friend, Willi. The father learns that his son’s blue jeans, painted, recorded weird messages for Willi (which are actually quotes from the Goethe book Edgar finds), and loved someone named Charlie.
In a flashback, Edgar finds and reads a book by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther. He later uses quotes from this book to confuse, annoy, and generally antagonize the people around him.
The father then visits Charlie and learns that Charlie and Edgar were very close, though Charlie denies having loved him.
Through various flashbacks, we see Edgar romantically pursuing Charlie. He does everything he can to be with her, despite the fact that she’s engaged to Dieter, a boring man from the army who’s going to school for a degree in German literature. Edgar’s friendly relationship with Charlie causes tension not only between Edgar and Dieter, but also between Dieter and Charlie.
Act 2:
The father then meets Edgar’s old boss and coworker, Addi and Zaremba. Edgar’s shaky relationship with Addi and friendship with Zaremba is shown through flashbacks.
When Addi’s special invention (a painting machine that is much more efficient than regular painters) fails to work, Edgar decides to go about making his own version of the painting-machine in secret.
When Edgar turns up dead in a horrible accident with his machine, Addi and Zaremba are stunned. Even Addi does not know if it was really an accident.
In another flashback Edgar visits his father, but in disguise, to see this man he never knew. The father never catches on, and later regrets it.
In a different flashback, Edgar visits a now married Charlie. They still flirt, angering Dieter, which leads to a fight between the newlyweds. In her anger, Charlie takes Edgar star-gazing and encourages his advances. Edgar gives her a kiss, which brings Charlie back to reality. She remembers Dieter, and runs away from Edgar. Edgar’s ghost explains that after Charlie’s rejection, he was depressed, and focused all his time manically on finishing the machine, which ultimately kills him.
New sufferings of young Werther 