Director Friederike Heller, who of late has been very successful with three Handke stagings at Akademietheater, knows quite well what it means to stage a reading of the Thomas Mann novel Doktor Faustus. With references that create contemporary parallels and embrace current cultural critics into the historic play, we think Heller might be trying to say something…

The novel fictionalizes the biography of composer Adrian Leverkühn, who’s in league with the devil to overcome a creative block. With the emergence of fascism all the way through the end of WWII, the awareness of a cultural crisis is the stroke where these two elements collide.

This reading asks the viewer to read into it…So take the hint. And if you’re not into heavy conversation with the devil but more into listening to the Hamburger Schule, this play is also suitable. Peter Thiessen, lead singer of Kante, and Michael Mühlhaus play live.