Lear at Deutsches Theater

A monarch, a kingdom, three daughters: what could be more natural than to divide his legacy between them? But as we know, Lear’s plan founders because his youngest daughter Cordelia does not behave as expected and refuses to profess her love for him as he demands. She is disinherited. But for us temporal beings is that even possible: not to inherit, when we are rooted in language, stories, traditions and global realities? To what extent can an inheritance be rejected, to what extent can it be chosen? And vice versa: what are we able to pass on? Can we give something we do not have? What will tomorrow be made of (Victor Hugo)?

Together with his ensemble, Sebastian Hartmann explores ideas around inheritance, giving and the future in Shakespeare’s famous play. Lear meets Wolfram Lotz’s latest theatre piece, the light-footed, clever and highly rhythmic play The Politicians , a fast-paced stream of words whose torrent of childhood flotsam, canisters and "miserable signals in the darkness" swirl around on stage, and which is having its world premiere as part of the production at the Deutsches Theater.

German translation by Rainer Iwersen.