It's only in a state of intoxication that Puntila can bear his existence and the world around him. Only when he gets drunk can he repress the huge gap that exists between him and his servant Matti. Yet his attempts to strike up a friendship and associate with him, to become a people's person and philanthropist are doomed to failure. The domination of the master over the servant cannot be denied. Puntila ruthlessly exploits his people for his own purposes, as he himself elaborates at length when he's sober. People around him must endure the changeable moods and whims of the landowner: Hiring labourers on one day, he fires them on the next. He betrothes several women only to chase them off shortly afterwards. He wants to marry his daughter Eva off to some precious attaché, then changes his mind and considers his servant Matti a better catch. Brecht himself directed the premiere of the play at the Schauspielhaus Zurich in 1948 in collaboration with Kurt Hirschfeld.
