Dora

Act 3
At the district administration office, the devil imposes himself on Berthold, the secretary, with dubious investment proposals for a disused pond. He skilfully evokes a memory of an encounter with Dora: while ice-skating last winter, she caught Berthold off guard with a fleeting kiss. The devil irritates Berthold with unambiguously raunchy allusions to Dora’s nocturnal activities. Then he offers commission payments for the approval of a building project. Berthold can only think of his hopeless love for Dora.

Act 4
Even weeks later, Dora’s situation hasn’t changed. The eternally repetitive and gruelling arguments with her parents are interrupted by her sister, who brings tragic news: Berthold has tried to drown himself in the pond –out of unrequited love for Dora, as he writes in a farewell letter. He was saved but suffered severe damage. Dora only vaguely remembers Berthold but suspects a connection between the accident and her nocturnal encounter with the obscure stranger months earlier. She decides to go and see Berthold in the hospital.

Act 5
Every evening, Dora takes Berthold in his wheelchair on her forays outsidethe housing estate. She hopes for a reunion with the devil, whom she accuses of not having helped her in her search for ways out of monotony. The devil does indeed appear. Once again, Dora cannot make sense of his verbose explanations of the world. The devil is not prepared to irretrievably lose his identity over attempting to jump in as Doras life counsellor. Instead, he tries to tempt Dora into a radically evil deed. When Dora also rejects this as pointless, the devil gives up and leaves Dora alone with her unresolved questions. The ancient chorus also finds itself unable to fulfil its former commentary function. Berthold, who lost his speech during his suicide attempt, stammeringly picks up on a thought that Dora had unconsciously stumbled upon during her confrontation with the devil. Dora turns to Berthold, and for the first time, the prospect of something new emerges.