Life x 3

What if…? After three years, the struggling astrophysicist Henri is on the verge of publishing his new scientific paper. He’s hoping his colleague Hubert will give his career a boost. That’s why Henri and his wife Sonja have invited Hubert and his partner Ines over for dinner. However, due to a misunderstanding, the couple shows up at Sonja and Henri’s door a day early: Nothing is prepared, there is a shortage of food, and Henri and Sonja’s child simply won’t fall asleep. Then Hubert also informs Henri that another colleague is planning a publication on the same research topic. Was Henri’s three years of work now completely in vain? Catastrophic conditions for a dinner that turns into a disaster for everyone involved.

French playwright Yasmina Reza recounts the failure of an evening three times anew. In the process, the slightest nuances and coincidences lead to unpredictable developments and shifts in the characters’ dynamics. Simple details are enough to shift the mood, so that new facets of the four characters constantly come to light. While the inner state of the individual characters becomes increasingly clear, interpersonal communication consistently misses the mark. Desperate attempts at intellectual exchange lead straight back to the banality of social reality.