Urge

Spring Theatreworks commissioned Hans Moennig to create a new American-English translation of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s play Der Drang (Urge), a fierce and brutally frank dark-comedy written in 1994. Urge is centered on Otto and Hilde, married gardeners who make a living selling flower arrangements for funerals. Hilde’s brother Fritz has just been released from prison and is staying with Otto and Hilde until he can get back on his feet. Incarcerated for chronic indecent exposure, Fritz must take drive-reducing medication to prevent him from acting on his desires in public again. So meeting Hilde’s sexually desperate assistant, Mitzi, proves quite a challenge! All the while, Otto is convinced Fritz has more problems than just his uncontrollable libido, but while trying to figure that out he manages to discover the extent of his own unruly urges instead. Kroetz is known for his ability to dissect human nature into its most fundamental components, stripping his characters down to their barest needs and desires. In essence, Urge is a study of the animalistic instincts naturally inherent in all of us.