Putzen

Putzen

The verb „putzen“ has an immediate association, thus to clean something up, often used for cleaning a flat, or parts of it, mainly doing physical work with a before and after. In Fabian Hartjes‘ play from 2025, both protagonists, SHE and HE, aren’t cleaning up in this sense of the word – their meeting after ten years for the first time is more an exchange of the actual status quo mixed with feelings and longings for the friendship they had. They undertake rather unconsciously a journey of cleaning up with the past and the present, and the time in between. This can happen because they both stuck to the plan to read out the personal letter to each other that they had written ten years ago. Before this can take place – in case it does happen – SHE and HE are kept during their encounter in moments of estrangement and of intimacy, in dialogues full of allusions and factual exchange, scrutinizing each other, trying to be cautious, and being rude by accident at the same time.
And in all probability this is one of the ample message of Fabian Hartjes play: Precious memories (in this case of a deep friendship) should not be cleaned, they have to be preserved – but this is only possible by accepting the urge for development and change by the price of letting go – to maintain and sustain!

Fabian Hartje

Fabian Hartje, born in Göttingen, has been studying Szenisches Schreiben (writing for the stage) at the Berlin University of the Arts since 2022 and dramaturgy at the HfMT Hamburg for one semester.
His plays have been staged as workshop productions and readings at the Theater Münster, the HfS Ernst Busch, the Deutsches Theater Göttingen, the Vagantenbühne and the Theaterdiscounter Berlin. As part of his studies, he also worked as a dramaturge on various productions.
In 2023, he received a residency scholarship from the ‘Institut für theatrale Zukunftsforschung’ at the Zimmertheater Tübingen, where his play “Solo mit Goldfisch” premiered in April 2025.
In addition, his Spring Awakening adaptation “SCHERBEN KINDER” was shown in a musical version at the UNI.T Theater of the Berlin University of the Arts in May 2025.
He lives and works in Berlin. 

Hartje’s play impresses by a dedication to linguistic minimalism to deal with a maximalist issue: friendship and absence. It introduces us to “he” and “she”, characters featuring archetypal names but possessing psychological realistic backgrounds. Using a recognizable reduced language which maintains a sense of realism without ever becoming stylized, Hartje is able to map the limitations of language to heal emotional wounds and bridge the gaps of physical distance.
The subject matter, Platonic friendship between a young man and a young woman who are five years apart, is one rarely treated in plays: much more focus is given to lovers than friends. Friendships are examined much more rarely than affairs of the heart. Hartje admirably succeeds in using a reduced language to indicate the depths of feelings that cannot seem to find their way to vocal expression and leaves us pondering what friendship means and how it can survive distances, both geographic as well as internal.
The German-language original lends itself well to English translation, allowing the same “tip of the iceberg” feeling when it comes to what the characters say as well as what they do not say. The subject matter is universal, and it is possible to imagine the text working well in a wide variety of different languages as well as cultures.

– Daniel Brunet