Actor

"The poodle didn't notice anything when he jumped in, but things are different now; the devil can't leave the house."
"Here you come and ask what idea I was trying to embody in my Faust. As if I knew it myself and could articulate it!" — What Goethe himself couldn't or wouldn't explain, Barbara Bürk and Clemens Sienknecht will now attempt. With the subtitle "albeit with a different text and also a different melody," the two have already transformed several great classics of world literature into their very own format: condensed in content, humorously deconstructed, and lovingly set to music. In Hanover, after "Madame Bovary" (2016), the duo will now tackle Goethe's heavyweight Faust: a fateful pact with the devil, the Gretchen question, and the search for the moment of absolute happiness.

Goethe’s Faust — but with different text and also different melody

Staatstheater Hannover

“A house is the third skin, after the skin of flesh and clothing”
German history rages in a house in Brandenburg: Jenny Erpenbeck conjures up 15 people and fates that populate this house over a period of 100 years, accumulating, intersecting, reflecting, intersecting, and refracting within it. From the German Empire through the Weimar Republic, National Socialism, the GDR, and the post-reunification period, a panorama of German realities and the violence inherent in every system and every era unfolds. The house's residents are both perpetrators and victims of this violence, thrown into the shadow of time, and their very existence testifies to the fact that political and social change is based on repression and occupation.

Visitation

"There's no secret knowledge that makes us mothers. But everyone expects us to never make a mistake in handling our child from the moment of birth because we supposedly have an instinct for it."
Helene does the unthinkable: Without a word, she gets up from dinner and throws herself from the balcony. Her family is shocked. Sarah, Helene's best friend, wants to help and becomes a support for her completely overwhelmed father, Johannes—just until everyone has solid ground under their feet again. Or so she thinks. But the months pass. Sarah's own life naturally fades into the background, and the simmering feeling of rage forces its way to the surface. Lola, Helene's daughter, feels this rage even more intensely; her accusation is directed against the patriarchy itself. She blames the system for her mother's death and decides to declare war on the overwhelming enemy.

Actor

Anja Herden

Events

Past events

1 - 21 Nov, 2025

Goethe’s Faust — but with different text and also different melody · Staatstheater Hannover

Oct 10 - Nov 28, 2025

Visitation · Staatstheater Hannover

Future and recently performed repertoire

Sarah in The anger that remains by Kleemann

Staatstheater Hannover

Emma / The Subtenant / The Real Estate Agent in Visitation by Bhatti

Staatstheater Hannover

Anja / Gretchen / Earth Spirit in Goethe’s Faust by Sienknecht

Staatstheater Hannover

About

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