As lágrimas amargas de Petra von Kant

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, a play by German filmmaker and writer Rainer
Werner Fassbinder, had its theater debut in 1971 and was shown throughout the world.
When it was filmed by Fassbinder himself, a year later, it became a cinema cult classic.
This volume features two versions of the play: Fassbinder’s unabridged text, translated
from the German by Marcos Renaux, and Petra, a 2024 adaptation by Cia.BR116.
The story is set in the home of Petra von Kant, a successful, controlling and cultured
fashion designer from the German elite, living in Cologne. Her main companion is
Marlene, her secretary and assistant, on whom Petra calls to answer all her demands.
Recently divorced from her husband, Petra falls in love with young, beautiful and
fragile Karin. Throughout the play, the complicated relationship between these two
women fall apart, amidst conflicts that lead Petra to rock bottom. In this state, Petra is
visited by her mother and daughter to celebrate her birthday.
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant explores power dynamics in human relationships
through a complex character who combines desire, narcissism, solitude and insecurity.

With cuts and other changes made to the original plot, the adaptation Petra, by
Cia.BR116, updates and restates the relevance of Fassbinder's play for contemporary
audiences.

About the author
Rainer Werner Fassbinder was born in 1945, in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria, Germany. He
was a director, writer and playwright, considered one of the main figureheads of New
German Cinema. He grew up in a cultured, bourgeoise family, and, after his parents’
divorce, was raised by his mother, a translator, as an only child. Since his childhood,
Fassbinder was a fervent cinephile, who went constantly to the movies. “Film was the
family I lacked at home”, he would go on to say. Fassbinder studied theater at the Fridl-
Leonhard Studio, in Munich, and, at 22, in 1967, joined Action-Theater, where he
actively worked as an actor, director and playwright. In 1968, he became the director of
the company — which was renamed Anti-Theater —, and, in 18 months, directed 12
plays, four of which he wrote himself. His work, deeply anchored in post-war German
culture, featured characters in search of their own identity, unrequited love, and feelings
particular to the human condition such as solitude, fear, despair and anguish. In less
than 20 years, Fassbinder directed 43 feature films, including Berlin Alexanderplatz, 3
short films, 24 theater plays, and two TV series. In February 1982, he won the Berlinale
Golden Bear for Veronika Voss. Four months later, on June 10th, he passed away in
Munich, at the age of 37.

About the translator
Marcos Renaux is a theater translator and dramaturg. He worked with various theater
directors, including Maria Taís, Pedro Granato, Antonio Abujamra, Gabriel Villela,
Hector Babenco, José Wilker, Marco Ricca, Mauricio Paroni de Castro and William
Pereira. He translated plays by authors as diverse as Sam Shepard, Harold Pinter,
Stephen Spender, Martin McDonagh, Richard Kalinoski, Patrick Süskind, Friedrich
Dürrenmatt, Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller, Ariel Dorfman, Peter Turrini, Karl Gassauer,
Georg Büchner and Anton Tchekhov, among other names. Since 2016, he has dedicated
himself exclusively to translation and dramaturgy at Cia.BR116, led by Bete Coelho and
Gabriel Fernandes, where he has translated plays such as Bertolt Brecht’s Mother
Courage, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, and Rainer W. Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.

About Cia.BR116
Cia.BR116 was born in 2009, with a staging of Contardo Calligaris’ O homem da tarja
preta. In 2010, the company put on O terceiro sinal, by Otavio Frias Filho, published as a book by Cobogó; in 2018, the play was restaged in a historic season at Teatro Oficina. Cia.BR116 has toured with its entire repertoire through various Brazilian states, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. In 2019, it put on a production of Mother Courage, by Bertolt Brecht, whose scenery, created by Daniela Thomas, occupied a sports gym at Sesc Pompeia. Successful with audience and critics, the play won the Shell award for best director for Daniela Thomas. In 2020, the company created Teatrofilme, a project that resulted in two films, both directed by Bete Coelho and Gabriel Fernandes: Medeia by Consuelo de Castro — winning the APTR award for best actress for Bete Coelho — and Chekhov’s Seagull — which won the APTR for best costume. In 2022, the company put on Molly – Bloom, directed by
Daniela Thomas and Bete Coelho, and co-directed by Gabriel Fernandes. In late 2023, it
premiered, at the Teatro Anchieta in São Paulo, Ana Lívia, by Caetano W. Galindo,
directed by Daniela Thomas. The show was a highlight of the 2024 Festival de Teatro
de Curitiba. In 2024, a production of Petra, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, was staged at the Teatro Cacilda Becker in São Paulo, directed by Bete Coelho and Gabriel
Fernandes, with scenery by Daniela Thomas and Felipe Tassara.

Specifications
Author Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Translator Marcos Renaux
Language Portuguese
Page count 168
Publisher Cobogó
ISBN  978-65-5691-148-9
Cover Celso Longo and Daniel Trench
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2024
Price R$ 62.00
CDD 832