“Physics” of Dürrenmatt in brief
The action takes place in the early 60’s. XX century. in Switzerland, in a private lunatic asylum “The Cherry Orchard”. The sanatorium, thanks to the efforts of its mistress, the hunchbacked Fraulein Matilda von Tsang, a doctor of medicine, and donations from various charitable societies, is expanding. New buildings are being built, where the most well-off and respected patients are transferred. In the old building there are only three patients, they are all physicists. Lovely, harmless and very cute psychopaths. They are compliant and modest. They could be called exemplary patients if three months ago one of them, who considers himself Newton, did not strangle his nurse. A similar case was repeated again. This time, the second patient, who considers himself Einstein, was the culprit. The police are investigating.
Police Inspector Richard Fos sends Fraulein von Tsang an order from the prosecutor to replace the nurses with nurses. She promises him to do it.
The
Sister Monica, his nurse, who has been courting him for two years, sees that he is pretending to be a madman. She confesses to him in love and asks to leave the madhouse with her, as Fraulein von Tsang does not consider
The police are coming to the house again. They again measure something, record, photograph. The room includes gigantic growth orderlies, former boxers, and bring patients a luxurious dinner. Two policemen carry the body of Monica. Mobius laments that he killed her. In an interview with him, the inspector no longer shows the amazement and hostility that he had in the morning. He even tells Mébius that he enjoys the fact that he found three murderers, who can not be arrested with a clear conscience, and justice can be rest for the first time. Serving the law, he says, is a grueling job, on which you burn both physically and morally. He leaves, giving friendly greetings to Newton and Einstein, and also to King Solomon.
From the next room comes Newton. He wants to talk to Mobius and tell him about his escape plan from the sanatorium. The appearance of orderlies forces him to accelerate the implementation of the plan and do it today. He admits that he is not Newton at all, but Alec Jasper Kilton, the founder of correspondence theory, who made his way to the sanatorium and portrayed a madman in order to be able to spy on Mobius, the genius. physicist of our time. For this, he mastered German with great difficulty in his intelligence camp. It all started with the fact that he read Mobius’s thesis on the fundamentals of the new physics. At first he considered her childish, but then the shroud fell from his eyes. He realized that he had met with the brilliant creation of modern physics, and began to make inquiries about the author, but – unsuccessfully. Then he informed his intelligence service, and she attacked the trail. From the other room, Einstein comes out and says that he also read this thesis and is also not crazy. He is a physicist and, like Kilton, is in the service of intelligence. His name is Joseph Eisler, he is the author of the Eisler effect. At Kilton suddenly appears in the hands of a revolver. He asks Eisler to turn his face to the wall. Eisler quietly approaches the fireplace, puts his violin on which he played before, and suddenly turns around with a revolver in his hand. Both of them are armed and come to the conclusion that it is better to do without a duel, so they put their revolvers behind the mantelpiece. At Kilton suddenly appears in the hands of a revolver. He asks Eisler to turn his face to the wall. Eisler quietly approaches the fireplace, puts his violin on which he played before, and suddenly turns around with a revolver in his hand. Both of them are armed and come to the conclusion that it is better to do without a duel, so they put their revolvers behind the mantelpiece. At Kilton suddenly appears in the hands of a revolver. He asks Eisler to turn his face to the wall. Eisler quietly approaches the fireplace, puts his violin on which he played before, and suddenly turns around with a revolver in his hand. Both of them are armed and come to the conclusion that it is better to do without a duel, so they put their revolvers behind the mantelpiece.
They tell Mobius why they killed their carers. They did this because the girls began to suspect that they were not insane, and thus jeopardized the fulfillment of their missions. Each other they all the time considered really crazy.
Three of the orderlies come in, check the presence of all three patients, lower them to the grill windows, lock them and then leave.
After their departure, Kilton and Eisler vied with each other about the prospects that could give Mobius intelligence of their countries. They suggest Mobius to flee from the madhouse, but he refuses. They begin to “tear” him from each other from their hands and come to the conclusion that it is still necessary to solve the duel, and if necessary, shoot at Mobius, even though he is the most valuable person on earth. But his manuscripts are even more valuable. Here Moebius admits that he burned all his notes, the result of fifteen years of work, before the police returned. Both spies are furious. Now they are finally in the hands of Moebius.
Mobius convinces them that they must take the only reasonable and responsible decision, because their mistake can lead to a worldwide catastrophe. He finds out that in fact both – both Kilton and Eisler – offer the same thing: Moebius’s complete dependence on the organization he would go to the service, and the risk that a person does not have the right to go: the death of humanity because of weapons, which can be created on the basis of his discoveries. At one time, when he was still young, this responsibility made him choose a different path: to abandon his academic career, to declare that he was King Solomon, to be locked in a madhouse, for in him he was freer than outside. Humanity lags behind physicists. And because of them it can perish, Moebius calls on both colleagues to stay in a madhouse and pass on their radios to their superiors, that Moebius is really crazy. They agree with his arguments.
After that, the orderlies come in black uniforms, with caps and revolvers. Together with them – Dr. von Tsang. They disarm Kilton and Eisler. The doctor informs physicists that their conversation was overheard and that they have long been suspected. The doctor claims that King Solomon appeared to her all these years and said that now she must take over the world on behalf of the king, for Moebius, whom he first trusted, betrayed him. She says she has already made copies of all Moebius records for a long time and based on them she opened giant enterprises. She framed all three physicists, forcing them to kill the carers, whom she herself had poisoned, For the world around them they are murderers. The orderlies are employees of her factory police. And this villa from now on becomes the true treasury of her trust, from where all three can not escape. She dreams of power, about the conquest of the universe. The world will fall into the hands of a crazy mistress of a madhouse.
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