My tormented Heart

(1)

Has someone ever broken your heart?
And if so… do you remember the whirlwind of emotions that hit you when it happened?
Did you, for instance:
• First, try to pretend that nothing had happened at all? (denial)
• Second, expect that the person who had just let you down would return with an apology very soon? (hope)
• Third, break into tears upon realizing that your “one and only love” would really never come back? (heartache)
• Fourth, suddenly get mad at “that jerk” who so unfairly dropped you? (anger)
• Fifth, dread that no one would ever love you again? (fear)
• Sixth, become so obsessed with your pain that you were sure you may have already become insane? (madness)
• Seventh, resolve to empty your mind by focusing it exclusively on the most boring activities? (the daily grind)
• But… but… but???
• Despite all this, did you instead burst into tears once again at the memory of your loss? (heartache relentlessly striking back)…

And can you still remember how long your grief lasted? Did you initially assume it would be overcome within a matter of days, or… weeks at the most? But then feel astonished to see it settling in for months, or even… years?
And, right after you figured out that the tranquilizers prescribed by your family doctor would in no way heal your sorrow, what saved you in the end? Friends? Your dog? Hobbies? Art? The fact you realized you were still so fond of life in general? All of that?
Well, if you connected to any or all of the above, we bet you will feel a lot of empathy for Maggie, the main character of “My Tormented Heart,“ an EWE self-written play.
From the day her husband brutally leaves her after 15 years of marriage, Maggie’s heart is unable to find peace. However, what might have turned into a tragedy from that moment onwards immediately unfolds into a hilarious on-stage experience as, unlike any of us, Maggie is then granted the magical ability to meet each of her emotions “face-to-face”: as if these were, in fact, real characters which Maggie (and only Maggie) can see/hear/speak and relate to…
This surreal but genuinely poetic set-up leads to many comical situations which keep intensifying throughout the play, especially as the different “faces” of Maggie’s tormented heart start clashing against each other or threaten to invade Maggie’s “real life” (which includes mainly her two beloved daughters and her best friend, Rose), or even quite unnecessarily incite her to try to forgive her ex-husband & undertake a long-haul trip in search of serenity…

Eine Amateur-Theater-Produktion der East & West Encounter Theatre Group