Tamino is to rescue a kidnapped princess. Accompanied by the bird catcher Papageno, equipped with a magic flute and a glockenspiel, he learns to distinguish between good and evil. In the end, light and reason triumph over the realm of the Queen of the Night. After stints at the Metropolitan Opera New York and with shooting star Johanna Wallroth as Pamina, this globally acclaimed production of Mozart's most famous opera returns to Basel.

Die Zauberflöte

Theater Basel

Four people, perhaps the very last ones left: Hamm, his servant Clov, and his parents Nell and Nagg. They grapple with power and powerlessness, memory and repression, affection and humiliation, while the world outside falls apart. This standstill lays bare the depths of their relationships, but also reveals absurd humor. A lifelong fascination with Samuel Beckett’s ‹Endspiel› inspired Hungarian composer György Kurtág to write his first opera in 2018. Kurtág’s 100th birthday marks the occasion for the Swiss premiere of his work in Basel, where the composer regularly worked. Today, his estate is preserved here at the Paul Sacher Foundation. In his Basel debut, director David Marton frees the characters from the prison of Beckett’s dark room and transports them into the open air: onto a rooftop terrace in Márton Ágh’s post-apocalyptic urban landscape.

Fin de partie

A spectacular founding of a city: Benedikt von Peters’ spatial staging invites the audience to wander through the supposed paradise city of Mahagonny. Here, there is endless pleasure and everything is permitted, as long as you can pay – «but something is missing!». To escape the emptiness, the inhabitants eat and drink themselves to death, fuck and box their way to the grave. Only in Jim Mahoney does the idea of a more humane existence quietly take root.

Ronan Caillet

Events

Upcoming events

May 2 - Jun 18, 2026

Fin de partie · Theater Basel

Aug 22 - Sep 27, 2026

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny · Theater Basel

Past events

Nov 25, 2025 - Mar 15, 2026

Die Zauberflöte · Theater Basel

Future and recently performed repertoire

Fatty, the authorized signatory in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill

Theater Basel

Tamino in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Theater Basel

Nagg in Fin de partie by Kurtág

Theater Basel

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