Lessingt
age

For his ten-hour marathon production “Dionysos City”, Christopher Rüping was named Director of the Year in 2019. Beyond the European theatre scene, he is seen as “…one of Germany’s most exciting young directors, who has a flair for high-tempo productions that muscularly fuse together clever stagecraft, propulsive live music and fearless acting. In “Paradise,” Rüping combines these elements into gripping theater that pulsates with energy and purpose.“ (New York Times)

>> More information on and photos of the play

A new beginning. Many artists and cultural institutions view the interruption of high-speed, routine practices as a novel opportunity. This shows the readiness to start a new chapter in Europe. For „Voices of Europe“ we gather the voices of influential artists from all over Europe, to give a glimpse into their forward-thinking work and their visions for the meaning of art in future societies. 

>> More information

For the 200th anniversary of Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky’s birth, Lessingtage Digital is showing two very different adaptations of his novel “The Idiot”. The director and artistic director of Dramaten, Mattias Andersson, goes first with his modern and polyphonic interpretation, in which nobody can evade their personal responsibility.

(The second production of the story comes from Moscow, in a completely different style, and can be seen on January 27!)

>> More information on and photos of the play

Guy Cassiers, director and artistic director of Toneelhuis, is known for a distinctive, extremely visual theatrical idiom. Together with his actors, he creates a sensory universe, combining his great passion for literature and music with his fascination for the possibilities of visual technology. In this double-bill, Stefan Hertmans and Kate Tempest rewrote classic myths in a contemporary language and placed them in an urban context

>> More information on and photos of the play

“Stunning, the most decluttered Brecht you could wish for.” wrote the Süddeutsche Zeitung enthusiastically about Michael Thalheimer's inaugural production for Oliver Reese's directorship of Berliner Ensemble. The famous parable about justice and corruption, with which Brecht himself opened his Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 1954, impresses above all with the leading actress Stefanie Reinsperger, who was hailed for her portrayal of Grusche as an "acting force of nature" (Der Tagesspiegel)

>> More information on and photos of the play

"Right you are" is one of Italy's most successful contemporary productions abroad, and was performed with great success in China as the first play by Pirandello presented in Italian. The actor and director Filippo Dini turns the comedy into a grotesque thriller, which once founded Pirandello's success as a playwright. Dini has received numerous awards for his productions, including Le Maschere del Teatro Italiano 2019 for “Right you are”.

>> More information on and photos of the play

"Yes, of course! You can do theatre even under the most adverse conditions,” says Berliner Zeitung about Anne Lenk's production, describing the pink pandemic-compatible set that Judith Oswald designed here for Schiller's queen drama. Lenk, who was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen with her staging of “Der Menschenfeind” in 2020, makes the classic play about morality and power politics shine with her strong ensemble.

>> More information on and photos of the play

The second production of Dostoyevsky's “Idiot” at the festival comes from Russia in the original language, directed by Maxim Didenko, one of the most sought-after Russian theater directors of the new generation. Aesthetically, the artist takes a quite unusual path and stages the novel with only four actors as "Cirque Noir". With little dialogue, a lot of physical performance and heavy make-up, Didenko shows a new level of abstraction and comedy in dealing with the famous plot.

>> More information on and photos of the play

The young director Raquel Cors was fascinated from the start by the true story of Eva Lyberten, an icon of Spanish softcore film in the 1970s and 1980s. For years she had tried to track down the actress who had meanwhile completely disappeared from the scene. UNA is now bringing her to the stage in person, in a sensitive exploration of her biography and her relationship with Franco-Spain.

>> More information on and photos of the play

Isn't 18-year-old Greta Thunberg right with her clear analysis? Is the world really at a loss for answers when it comes to the future of our planet? Volker Lösch, who is known for his incorporation of amateur choirs, stages Ibsen's classic about environmental protection, power and morality together with young people from Düsseldorf and environmental activists, thus making the piece a highly topical testimony of our times.

>> More information on and photos of the play

The Italian writer and director duo Daria Deflorian and Antonio Tagliarini do not stage plays. What drives them is poured into a text or a performance and served to the audience like a good meal. As masters of calm, deeply human storytelling, in “Il cielo non è un fondale” they drag us into a train of thought that could not be better suited to the situation of the world in 2021: how can we still make meaningful contact with the outside world, if we spend most of our lives indoors?

>> More information on and photos of the play

Marriage equality has been a matter of course in most European countries for decades. In Hungary in particular, however, the government under Viktor Orbán is increasingly striving to destroy the achievements of the emancipation movement by proclaiming very conservative family views again. Ibsen’s classic “A Doll's House” is therefore highly relevant in a political context in 2021, staged by the young director Kriszta Székely.

>> More information on and photos of the play

Retrospective

Find here Lessingtage 2020 and Lessingtage 2019

As per usual our Lessingtage visual is designed by Stefan Marx.

Visit his Website here.