Petra
Tina Satter's take on Fassbinder's Petra von Kant
Tina Satter and the company Half Straddle reimagine Fassbinder's play about a fashion designer, her assistant and a young model who upends their lives.
Quick take
- Play
- Vineyard Theatre
- Based on Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1971 play The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Petra showtimes
Schedule last checked Nov 7
Dates not announced yet.
Our guide to Petra
On this page 7 sections
What it is
Petra is a new stage piece drawn from Rainer Werner Fassbinder's play The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. The company Half Straddle came up with this version, and Tina Satter directs it. Vineyard Theatre lists it as the second production of its 2026-2027 season.
The Vineyard presents the evening as a fresh take on Fassbinder's original, a chamber-scale psychological drama, and promises a tone that blends seduction with dark comedy. Petra, a fashion designer, shares her home and her working life with an assistant, Marlené, who is devoted to her. A young model named Karin comes into their circle, and Petra's feelings for her harden into obsession.
As of October 2026, performances are announced to begin in February 2027, with exact dates still to come. The cast has not been announced either. Members of Vineyard Theatre get a chance to book ahead of the general on-sale.
The story
The setup is a triangle of three characters. Petra is a celebrated designer, and Marlené is the person closest to her day to day. That balance lasts until Karin appears. Petra falls fast and hard, and the carefully built reality she lives in begins to come apart.
Fassbinder's 1972 film version unfolds entirely inside Petra's apartment in Bremen. No details about where or when Satter's version is set have been released, so treat the film as background rather than a map of what will happen on stage.
The writing
The source is a play from 1971, first staged that year in Frankfurt. Fassbinder turned it into a film the following year, and the film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1972. It is regarded as a major work of New German Cinema.
The new version is billed as a contemporary update, and the Vineyard has not said how closely the script follows Fassbinder's text. What the theater does describe is the mood: obsessive love played with a sharp comic edge.
History
Petra marks a return for Satter and Half Straddle to the Vineyard, which has collaborated with them before.
The Vineyard itself was founded in 1981. Among its notable productions are Avenue Q and How I Learned to Drive.
Creative team
Tina Satter conceived the production and directs it. She works as a filmmaker, playwright and director out of New York City, and she started Half Straddle in 2008. One of her plays, Is This A Room, was seen first at the Vineyard and then on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre in 2021–2022. In 2023 her film Reality had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
As of October 2026, the Vineyard has not named other members of the creative team. Rainer Werner Fassbinder is credited as author of the original play.
- Conceived by
- Tina Satter
- Director
- Tina Satter
More production credits (1)
- Original play by
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Photo credits (1)
- Tina Satter: Elena Ternovaja, CC BY-SA 3.0
Theater
Vineyard Theatre
108 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003
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Before or after the show
- Museum of Broadway
- Hell's Kitchen food tour before the show
- Empire State Building observation deck
- SUMMIT One Vanderbilt
- Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry
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