"Twice through the heart" is the psychogram of a woman who was brutally abused by her husband for years, finally killed him in self-defense, and who continues to struggle with her experiences for a long time. Night after night, she is haunted anew by the memories of her dead husband and relives the terrible things - but also the happy moments - that happened to her in her marriage, without being able to detach herself from them. The work is based on a real incident: Amelia Rossiter, aged over 60, was sentenced to death after killing her husband by stabbing him twice in the chest. The preceding abuse and threats were not known to the public until years later, and Rossiter had kept silent about them in court. These events so shocked Scottish author Jackie Kay that she turned the case into a cycle of poems that eventually inspired composer Mark-Anthony Turnage to write an extraordinary one-act play.
Insensitivity, slights, and alienation also cloud the once-happy marriage of Dinah and Sam. At first glance, they lead a life of contentment: their idyllic home in a suburban location, Sam earns very well and their child together also enjoys excellent health. But the shiny facade of the pleasant suburban life has become fragile - despite the outward prosperity, both feel unhappy. Their relationship suffers as a result: teasing and quarrelling characterise their everyday married life. Sam seeks distraction and affirmation in his work and in sports, Dinah tries to fathom the inner emptiness with a therapist and to smother it in consumption; only the ideal world of the dream factory promises a way out. The escape from reality fails. At the end of each day, the question arises: do they really want to go on like this?
Text source and further information about this event:
https://www.staatstheater-darmstadt.de/veranstaltungen/twice-through-the-heart-trouble-in-tahiti.536/#event-1908
