Festivals, Readings
Werther or The Proportionality of Means
Thursday, 12/06/2025 / 08:00 PM - 12:00 AM / Kulturforum Schleswig-Holstein-Haus
by Antje Trautmann, Ensemble & Goethe
"What I know, anyone can know.
I have my heart alone."
Werther, a young man, an artist, is looking for his place in the world. He is reluctant to lead a conformist life in high society and wants to pursue his passions and follow his heart in search of truth. He meets Lotte in an idyllic rural setting and finds a kindred spirit in her. The young woman appears angelic to Werther and he is seized by intoxicating, almost obsessive feelings. Only with her does his life seem to find meaning. And does Lotte not return his feelings? Or is it nothing more than friendship? After all, Lotte is already engaged to Albert.
When Goethe's epistolary novel was published in 1774, its impact was enormous. The Sorrows of Young Werther is regarded as the first bestseller in German literature, a global success that has inspired and deeply touched generations for centuries. But 250 years later, do we still find ourselves in Werther's romantic feelings? Would we be prepared to die for love? As postmodern people in late capitalism, we have love figured out. We can explain it with biochemical processes, we know how to deconstruct romantic narratives, we know therapies and counselors when things don't work out and we are equipped with flexibility and pragmatism on the market of feelings - and yet we are overwhelmed by our feelings, (secretly) hope for the one and only and it hurts us infinitely when love is denied. Werther's pain, his lovesickness, is timeless and his search for truth confronts us with ever-present questions: What do we seek when we love? Why does the unattainable exert such a fascination? What do we want from this terribly beautiful, wild life?
Together with the drama studio, Antje Trautmann examines Goethe's world-famous classic and asks how much Werther there is in us - in a summery atmosphere on the garden stage of the Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, with music and chilled drinks.
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