Der Theater­macher

In the organizer's words:

The last premiere in the Kleines Haus is a great farce about the theater, a lusty and biting reflection on its own art. After "Das Buch der Unruhe" and "Die unendliche Geschichte", the current artistic direction bids farewell to Düsseldorf with a true classic of modern theater.

The self-proclaimed state actor Bruscon moves from place to place with his family. He once played Faust in Berlin and Mephisto in Zurich. But that was a long time ago. Today in his luggage: "The Wheel of History" - a work of the century from his own pen and a comedy that is actually a tragedy because, as we know, we can learn nothing from it. From Nero to Napoleon, from Metternich to Hitler, they are all there, the great tyrants of world history. They are all played by Bruscon's family: his wife Agathe, his two children Sarah and Ferruccio and, of course, himself. The actor tours through the darkest provinces, launching into full-length tirades of abuse and ruthlessly settling accounts with everything: the art of the stage itself and his own family. He can really do theater. And at the cost of his own ridiculousness, Bruscon defends to the end what is most important to him - the theater.

In "Theatermacher", Thomas Bernhard paints a bizarre and sensitive portrait of an artist caught between stage fright and self-destruction. Director Christina Tscharyiski works regularly in Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna and Zurich. In Düsseldorf, she tells the story of the family tyrant with a female ensemble led by Rosa Enskat. Bernhard's text is complemented by a monologue by the Austrian playwright Ferdinand Schmalz.