Originally written as a libretto for the Berlin State Opera,Elfriede Jelinek’srein GOLDreconstructs the events ofWagner’sepicRingcycle & extends them into the present day.BrünnhildediagnosesWotan, father of the gods, to be a victim ofcapitalismbecause he, too, has fallen into the trap of wanting to own a castle he cannot afford.In a series of monologues,Brünnhilde&Wotanchart the evolution of capitalism from theNibelungenSagato the 2008 financial crisis. Written with her trademark ‘extraordinary linguistic zeal’ (Swedish Academy),rein GOLDis a playful & ferocious critique of universal greed by the 2004Nobel Prize in Literaturelaureate.‘Jelinek’s work is brave, adventurous, witty, antagonistic & devastatingly right about the sorriness of human existence, & her contempt is expressed with surprising chirpiness: it’s a wild ride.’ —Guardian‘the characters inrein GOLDdo make deft contrapuntal patterns with ideas, & their twin streams of consciousness gush, eddy & sometimes drool or drivel’ —Peter Conrad, Observer°°°Elfriede Jelinek, who was born in1946& grew up inVienna, now lives inVienna&Munich. She has received numerous awards for her literary works, which include not onlynovelsbut alsoplays, poetry, essays, translations, radio plays, screenplays & opera librettos. Her awards include theGeorg Büchner Prize& theFranz Kafka Prize for Literature. She was awarded theNobel Prize in Literaturein 2004 for her ‘musical flow of voices & counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society’s clichés & their subjugating power’.