
The Wedding
by Elias Canetti
"The language of the people in this play expresses confusion of every kind, so that one person does not really understand what another one means, everyone just talks for themselves. It is as if they were talking to each other in foreign languages – without knowing them; they only think that they know the language, which leads to yet another level of misunderstanding." (Elias Canetti about his play Hochzeit)
While the wife of the caretaker lies on her deathbed in the basement flat of an apartment building, the ageing owner of the building, who lives higher up, is under intense pressure: the wishes and desires of countless relatives and speculators are focused on her property. Meanwhile, on the first floor of the building, the wedding of the Segensreichs is taking place. Soon, human urges triumph over social conventions, and not even the bride and groom can escape the sexual advances of family members and guests. Egotism, greed and claims of ownership rattle the bourgeois foundations. In the end, the whole building collapses in an earthquake.
In his debut play from 1932, Elias Canetti described the approaching downfall of a society – in an absurd, comic, depressing, brutally honest panopticon.
The Jewish author, who was born in Bulgaria and later lived in Manchester, Frankfurt, Vienna and Zurich, emigrated from Vienna via Paris to London in 1938. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Canetti’s best-known works include his philosophical masterpiece Crowds and Power.
While the wife of the caretaker lies on her deathbed in the basement flat of an apartment building, the ageing owner of the building, who lives higher up, is under intense pressure: the wishes and desires of countless relatives and speculators are focused on her property. Meanwhile, on the first floor of the building, the wedding of the Segensreichs is taking place. Soon, human urges triumph over social conventions, and not even the bride and groom can escape the sexual advances of family members and guests. Egotism, greed and claims of ownership rattle the bourgeois foundations. In the end, the whole building collapses in an earthquake.
In his debut play from 1932, Elias Canetti described the approaching downfall of a society – in an absurd, comic, depressing, brutally honest panopticon.
The Jewish author, who was born in Bulgaria and later lived in Manchester, Frankfurt, Vienna and Zurich, emigrated from Vienna via Paris to London in 1938. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Canetti’s best-known works include his philosophical masterpiece Crowds and Power.
Director Andreas Kriegenburg
Set Harald Thor
Costumes Andrea Schraad
Stage lighting Matthias Vogel
Dramaturgy Juliane Koepp
Premiere
June 9, 2017, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen
Co-production with Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen
June 9, 2017, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen
Co-production with Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen
Jörg PoseBuilding officer Segenreich, Bride's father

Natali SeeligJohanna, the bride's mother

Franziska MachensChrista, the bride

Camill JammalKarl, her brother in the third semester

Nina GummichMariechen, the youngest, fourteen years old
Bernd MossDirector Schön, a friend

Moritz GroveHorch, an idealist

Wiebke MollenhauerWidow Zart

Markwart Müller-ElmauDr. Bock, family doctor, eighty years old

Elias ArensGall, Pharmacist

Anja SchneiderMonika Gall, his mother

Harald BaumgartnerRosig, Coffinindustrialist

Linda PöppelAnita

Nele RosetzPepi Kokosch

Edgar EckertMichel, the bridegroom

Tabitha FrehnerToni Gilz

Building officer Segenreich, Bride's father
Johanna, the bride's mother
Christa, the bride
Karl, her brother in the third semester
Mariechen, the youngest, fourteen years old
Director Schön, a friend
Horch, an idealist
Widow Zart
Dr. Bock, family doctor, eighty years old
Gall, Pharmacist
Monika Gall, his mother
Rosig, Coffinindustrialist
Anita
Pepi Kokosch
Michel, the bridegroom
Toni Gilz