Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s fifth play and his third comedy, Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon [An Angel Comes to Babylon, 1954], was written in 1952, first published in 1954, and subsequently appeared in revised editions in 1958 and 1980.
God’s grace comes to earth in the form of Kurrubi, a beautiful child, created only minutes before in God’s abode, the Andromeda Galaxy, which dominates the backdrop. The child is a gift to the lowliest human on earth, and it is the assignment of an angel to find the intended recipient, about whom he knows nothing other than that this person must be a beggar. As King Nebuchadnezzar has ordered all beggars to enter state service, there is only one beggar left on …
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