DomStufen-Festspiele in Erfurt 2014
Death has spoken. EVERYMAN must die. It’s the last thing EVERYMAN expected—at the height of his powers, successful, wealthy, and respected in society. Hadn’t he done everything right? Hadn’t he earned his position and fortune through hard work? How dare Death take it all away from him? Maybe he should have been kinder. More god-fearing, as his mother would say. But who still believes in God these days? So little is certain when Death suddenly comes knocking. Except one thing: the final shirt really does have no pockets—EVERYMAN learns that faster than he would like. Who, then, will accompany him on this final journey? And where is he going? Only Death knows. And Death isn’t telling—EVERYMAN!
“One must learn how to die well”—this is one of the subtitles given to the medieval morality play Everyman, long before it achieved literary fame in Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s celebrated version. That same idea lies at the heart of this new musical reinterpretation by Wolfgang Böhmer and Peter Lund. Based on Hofmannsthal’s renowned text, this new adaptation was commissioned by Theater Erfurt. The libretto comes from acclaimed Berlin playwright and director Peter Lund. In his music, Wolfgang Böhmer fuses the powerful sound of a symphonic orchestra with the energy of a rock band—creating a score that dissolves the boundaries between opera and musical theater.
Premiere / July 10, 2014
Cast
Everyman Andreas Lichtenberger | Death Brigitte Oelke | The Sweetheart Nadja Mchantaf, Caterina Maier | The Mother Katja Bildt | God/Gardener Robert Wörle, Nils Stäfe | The Good Companion Jörg Rathmann | Works/Debtor's Wife Marysol Ximénez-Carillo | The Debtor/Mammon Máté Sólyom-Nagy | The Devil Martin Schäffner | The Bailiff Stefan Voigt | The Cook Keren Trüger, Tina Schöltzke | The Servant Matthias Knaab, Tim Ludwig | The Fat Cousin Maciej Salamon, Tim Ludwig | The Thin Cousin Andres Esteban, Tim Ludwig | The Aunt Teresa Scherhag, Tina Schöltzke | Miss Venera Jakupov, Tina Schöltzke | Everyman as a Child Philipp Cremer, Cornelius Joseph | Works as a Child Emilia Blokdijk, Franziska Joseph