It was three years ago Anton and Pepe just a radio play. Funny, pointed, over-the-top – but above all a story with potential. The plot that Paul Zacher and Axel Ranisch came up with, and the characters they invented for it, were by no means finished after this first hour.
Three years later is Anton and Pepe a radio play series in five parts. In which the original story is not rolled out to the length of the series, but rather spun away with relish. The two main characters fell in love as boys. At the time, however, they did not really understand this and certainly not lived it. Before that could happen, one of the two moved away.
As adults they meet again and become a couple. So they have a common past, but also secrets from each other. And: you both have families. One like the other joyfully and argumentatively participates in the life of the two men, whose relationship has more lows than heights. The relationship is a brilliant catalyst for both.
The engine of this series is that all characters are extremely aggressive in the firm belief that they can achieve the best for their relatives. And that it is precisely this trait – first act, then ask – that boundlessly disturbs everyone in the other. And because everyone knows that, they can only get ahead with cunning. It becomes most absurd when preparing for Anton and Pepe’s wedding. The festival is planned independently by as many people as have invited themselves. Nobody cares that the grooms wanted to keep to themselves. Once the whole family is there, Anton and Pepe will understand that this is the best way to go. One of many mistakes.
Anton and Pepe, NDR Kultur, Wednesday, 8 p.m. And in the ARD audio library.