Courtroom drama by Agatha Christie, in a modernized staging by Aenne Busmann and Hans Peter Mörsch with the ensemble of Theater Köln-Süd e.V.

Witness for the Prosecution

Offene Schule Köln

In describing the attributes of his 1851 melodrama based on Victor Hugo’s acclaimed play “Le roi s’amuse” Verdi also puts his finger on the challenges that any director has to address: RIGOLETTO is namely a masterpiece whose particularity lies in the clash between the characters’ psychology and the improbable action of a fantasy storyline.

Rigoletto

Deutsche Oper Berlin

In the beginning was a murder. Before, after, and in between: women — Italian, German, French, Spanish women, chambermaids, countesses, peasants, princesses, blonde, brunette, pale, fat, thin, old, rich, ugly, beautiful women — no matter, as long as they are female. Special preferences: young and inexperienced. So much tolerance! Thank you, noble Don, hero of equality. How would you like a women’s movement? Or we could simply wait until the ground opens up to swallow the murderer … It is the last moment; an unavoidable downfall. Don Giovanni, libertinage incarnate, has no place in the realm of reason. It is social progress which throws moral permissiveness into the jaws of hell.

EPSG:4326

Don Giovanni

Staatsoper Hamburg

A clown whose laughter catches in his throat, a ruthless lover, a hitman with a warm voice: In Rigoletto, Verdi assembles bawdy farce, profound character studies and overwhelming emotion into a dazzling grotesque about power and vulnerability. The opera is so much more than „La donna è mobile!” In his production, Jan Bosse tells the tragedy of a man who fails to separate his private life from his public actions. The Deutsche Oper Berlin auditorium becomes the decadent ducal court of Mantua, the understage a claustrophobic hiding place. There, Rigoletto keeps his daughter Gilda hidden from the eyes of the nobles. But as the action unfolds, the carefully separated roles of the cynical court jester and the gentle father begin to crumble. In his futile attempt to protect his daughter, Rigoletto inadvertently destroys his world – until only an empty stage remains. Conductor Anna Handler, already a favourite with the public, will conduct her first Verdi production.

Stéphane Laimé

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 29 - Feb 19, 2027

Rigoletto · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

Nov 1, 2025

Witness for the Prosecution · Theater Köln-Süd e.V.

Sep 14, 2025 - Mar 1, 2026

Rigoletto · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Sir Wilfried Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution by Christie

Theater Köln-Süd e.V.

About

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