A Transition at Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus: Theater between War, Peace, and Transformation
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A Transition: Elfriede Jelinek's Dark Play with History and Present
On December 4, 2026, Elfriede Jelinek's multifaceted stage work A Transition will be performed at the Kleines Haus of the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus. The production by Jossi Wieler leads into that fragile zone where war and peace, dictatorship and democracy, humanity and inhumanity intertwine.
A Dramaturgy of Transformation
Jelinek's prose poem starts with Germany in the immediate post-war period and broadens the view to the present. The historical transition from National Socialism to democracy does not appear as a completed liberation, but as a threatened movement. Repressed guilt, lack of memory, and old patterns of thought continue to exert their influence.
With linguistic precision and dark humor, the play examines transformations and confusions: animals become humans, humans become beasts, ghosts and revenants return. The production questions what defines humans as cultural beings and how quickly civilizational certainties can dissolve again.
Jossi Wieler Meets Anna Viebrock
Director Jossi Wieler is among the most renowned interpreters of Jelinek in contemporary theater. For A Transition, he collaborates once again with set and costume designer Anna Viebrock. Their shared theatrical aesthetics link precise spatial images, historical resonances, and an atmosphere in which the familiar can tip into the uncanny at any moment.
The acting skills of Katja Bürkle, Dominik Dos-Reis, Stefan Hunstein, and Ole Lagerpusch meet music by Friederike Bernhardt as well as lighting design by Christian Aufderstroth. This results in a stage experience that does not rely on linear narrative, but on speech rhythm, layering, and the pull of contradictory images.
Between Wit and Political Abyss
The production moves between historical memory and current threat. Jelinek's language jumps through times and motives, connecting ancient myths with political experiences of the 20th and 21st centuries, exposing the cracks beneath the belief in progress.
This creates a theater atmosphere of great tension: the stage becomes a space for thought, the acoustics an echo of past violence, the light a tentative orientation in a present whose certainties appear fragile. The audience does not experience a comforting history lesson, but a critical language experiment with dark humor and ominous premonition.
An Evening for Political Contemporary Theater
A Transition focuses on the question of how societies deal with their past and why peace is never a given. The Düsseldorf performance combines literary density, contemporary direction, and visually striking stage art into a challenging evening of theater.
For those wanting to experience Jelinek's sharp-edged language, Wieler's precise direction, and a theater ensemble in a concentrated stage space, this offers an extraordinary stage experience. Secure your tickets for A Transition at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus and experience theater as a lively engagement with history, present, and human nature.
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