
The Idiot (Der Idiot)
based on Fyodor Dostoevsky
What does it mean to perceive the world differently from everyone around you? How do early experiences shape your life? What do you remember and what do you forget? How pre-determined are your actions and by what degrees of freedom are they characterised? How many facets does an individual have? Dostoevsky’s novel centres on Prince Myshkin, the ‘idiot’ who returns to Russia after spending several years in a Swiss sanatorium. He is now apparently cured and can talk and function socially. The play tells stories of abuse, featuring characters whose actions and speech initially appear erratic and showing moments of great naivety and direct proximity to death. For the director Sebastian Hartmann, the play is also a tender journey into Dostoevsky’s mind and his obsessions, desires and fears.
Director / Stage Sebastian Hartmann
Costumes Adriana Braga Peretzki
Music Samuel Wiese
Director of Photography Voxi Bärenklau
Animation Tilo Baumgärtel
Dramaturgy Claus Caesar
Premiere
3 November 2021
Deutsches Theater
Duration: 4 hours 15 minutes, two intermissions
3 November 2021
Deutsches Theater
Duration: 4 hours 15 minutes, two intermissions
Elias Arens

Bea Brocks

Manuel Harder

Peter René Lüdicke

Linda Pöppel

Ruth Reinecke
Birgit Unterweger

Niklas Wetzel

Arno WaschkLive music
Samuel WieseLive music

Elias Arens, Bea Brocks, Manuel Harder, Peter René Lüdicke, Linda Pöppel, Ruth Reinecke, Birgit Unterweger, Niklas Wetzel
Live music