Was ihr wollt

In the organizer's words:

The starting point of the play is a shipwreck that washes young Viola up on the coast of the dreamland of Illyria. Whether her twin brother Sebastian survived is more than uncertain. Out of sheer grief and to protect herself from possible danger, the survivor reinvents herself in the role of the page boy Cesario: under a false name, she enters the service of Duke Orsino, who pines for the rich Countess Olivia. But Olivia wants nothing to do with Orsino's courtship and rejects the melancholic. Instead, she succumbs to the charms of Viola, who courts Olivia in Orsino's name and in whom Olivia recognizes a man, Cesario. Viola, in turn, is in love with Orsino ... Who can see through this? In addition to the lovers, who are connected by a subtle game of deception, self-deception and mutual projections, by hopes and imaginations, numerous silly and quirky characters appear, giving the play its special mixture of hilarity and melancholy: the perpetually drunk Sir Toby Belch, the oaf Sir Andrew Leichenwang, who is also courting Olivia, the bear hunter Fabian, the wise jester Feste and the vain steward Malvolio, who is deceived by a fictitious love letter and exposed to ridicule. Everyone in this world is a seeker. They all misjudge reality. And above all, there is an awareness of transience, because at some point even the most beautiful play comes to an end.

The production is directed by Bernadette Sonnenbichler, who is leaving the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus after ten years with "Was ihr wollt" to become artistic director of the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.