THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY guest touring to Hamburg
Schedule
Fri Jan 23 2026 at 07:30 pm to 09:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
English Theatre Of Hamburg | Hamburg, HH
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“THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY” by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Lars Junggreen.
Playmate Theatre Malmö is taking to Hamburg the English-language premiere of this incredible, rarely performed Tennessee Williams play. Along with Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams is the foremost playwright of 20th-century American drama, famous for his iconic cult melodramas on screen and off - The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and more.
The play begins with a brother and sister backstage. The curtain about to open on their latest play. They are actors, Felice and Clare. Reality and fantasy are interwoven with terrifying power as they face a (perhaps imaginary) audience expecting a performance of The Two-Character Play.
It is an illusion within an illusion, created from isolation, panic, and fear. Two fragile, tempestuous siblings flinging words, embraces and insults, try desperately to limp through to the end of their day.
Why does the play never have an ending neither Felice can write nor Clare can act? It seems they are playing characters – also named 'Felice' and his sister 'Clare'!
Traumatised by the violent loss of their parents when they were children, they are still living in their family home. But isolated from the outside world. In the dark. Or is their home the theatre itself? Their theatre company and crew have vanished.
Why can’t they get beyond the front door? What are they afraid of?
Surprising both critics and audiences when it opened in 1967, THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY by Tennessee Williams is experimental, hyper-modern, a very meta production, aware of its own theatricality. It is partially autobiographical and took Tennessee Williams over 10 years to write. One of his final works, it was written after the death of his life's second great love, in the midst of his real-life depression, alcoholism and drug abuse.
At the time Williams wanted to experiment and expand his writing style, exploring the surrealist writing styles of Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter.
The character Clare is loosely based on Williams’ sister, Rose, a schizophrenic who was lobotomised and spent her life in an institution. This play is perhaps an echo of the life Tennessee Williams and his sister were never allowed to share. The character Felice seems to be based on Williams himself, a sickly child with an alcoholic father, an eccentric mother.
ON STAGE:
Matt Trucano (US) as Felice
Vanessa Poole (UK) as Clare
& Eva Söderquist (Sw) as Ensemble:
CREW:
Directed by: Lars Junggreen
Director of Movement & Assistant Dir: Mariana Araoz
Light & sound design: Andrew Christiansen
Music composed by: BASIC BABY
Soundscape & sfx: Olle Nielsen @Rikoschett
Photography: Greta Sest
* THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY is a professional performance jointly presented by Playmate Theatre Malmö, in collaboration with and co-promoted by HIT International Theatre Arts and Theater In-Balance
*THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY by Tennessee Williams is presented by special arrangement with The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
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CAST
Matt Trucano plays Felice
Matt Trucano is an American actor and director, originally from South Dakota, currently based in Los Angeles. With over 25 years in the industry, selected acting credits include Twelfth Night (Malvolio), Mother Courage and Her Children (The Chaplain), Three Sisters (Solyony), Orestes (Orestes), Rhinoceros (Bérenger), and Don Juan (Sganarelle).
Selected directing credits include Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and Camino Real; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Cymbeline; Molière’s Tartuffe and Don Juan; Thornton Wilder’s Our Town; Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler; Brecht’s A Respectable Wedding; and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.
Matt has worked in New York, LA, holds an MFA in drama from Columbia University. He teaches L’ Essentiel, Viewpoints, is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society USA and has had training at Ecole Superieur d’Art Dramatique, Conservatoire National Superieur d’Art Dramatique, Paris.
Matt currently teaches acting and movement at the Stanislavsky Institute for the 21st Century in Los Angeles.
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Vanessa Poole plays Clare
Vanessa is a British character and stage actress and voiceover artist based in Malmö Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark with over 30 years’ experience of acting in English. She has had drama training in the UK, Sweden and Copenhagen, including classes with Declan Donnellan, Barbara Houseman, Judy Kuhn, Patsy Rodenburg and at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and at Drama Centre, both in London. She started working professionally recording English radio plays for schools at the age of 8 in Malta and is equally at home playing drama or comedy.
Vanessa has played lead roles on stage in Malmö, Hamburg and Copenhagen, as well as at the National Theatre of Malta, including Freya in “Vodka Talks”, Vanda in “Venus in Fur”, Edith in “Sunday in Sodom”, Sarah in TV series “Max's Movie” for SVT/UR in Sweden.
Vanessa starred in HAP at the English Theatre of Hamburg in 2021 and in 2025 successfully plays the lead in English in the Scandinavian premiere of Lucas Hnath’s “The Thin Place” at prestigious Teatret ved Sorte Hest, Copenhagen.
Vanessa has tackled a wide range of roles, from drama, physical theatre, panto, farce, to contemporary, Shakespearean roles & restoration comedy.
In THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY by Tennessee Williams:
“Vanessa Poole delivers a passionately inventive performance, showcasing an unwavering commitment to her craft. Her portrayal of Clare is both raw and nuanced, capturing the character’s fragility and fiery determination with captivating authenticity… portrayed with electrifying intensity”
(KunstKapel REVIEW 2024 “The Two Character Play” by Tennessee Williams, a Nordic premiere)
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Where is it happening?
English Theatre Of Hamburg, Lerchenfeld 14, 22081 Hamburg, Deutschland, Hamburg, GermanyEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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