In Dostoyevsky’s second novel, the city plays a central role as a place of existential limit experiences. In the jungle of the big city, people lose themselves, misery grows, and the loneliness and division of those who cannot afford to take part in life proliferate. This terminal illness strikes everybody, including Ivan Petrovic, the central figure, a disillusioned novel writer who is writing his memoirs from his death bed at the hospital. A moment of hope is possible thanks to his restrained affection for a pubescent, consumption-prone girl and his former fiancée. But death puts an abrupt end to all illusions. In Castorf’s staging, each one fights in his or her own way for his or her own erotic and economic existence, with odds favouring the wealthier.
With: Kathrin Angerer, Hendrik Arnst, Susanne Düllmann, Henry Hübchen, Astrid Meyerfeldt, Milan Peschel, Irina Potapenko, Bernhard Schütz, Sir Henry, Jeanette Spassova, Joachim Tomaschewsky and Martin Wuttke
Director: Frank Castorf
Stage Designer: Bert Neumann
Dramaturgy: Carl Hegemann
Music: Sir Henry
A Coproduction with Wiener Festwochen
Not recommended for persons younger than 16.
