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Titus Andronicus, commander of the Romans, returns home acclaimed after his war against the Goths. Trophies of victory: the Goth queen Tamora and three of her sons. In retaliation for his own fallen sons, Titus has Tamora's eldest executed, setting a bloody killing spree in motion. A round of revenge between Goths and Romans ensues, shifting the war from the battlefield to political Rome and families. This is how the clash between the center of power and the periphery, between “civilization” and “barbarism” takes place - but from the very beginning, the question arises as to who actually represents what here. Theater as a view of the world as it is. The human being in it: a radically charged elementary particle without meaning or stability.

How does an order disintegrate? It disintegrates slowly, in spurts of unpredictably advancing madness. That's what makes them all so ridiculous: yesterday's victors, generals of dead armies, worn-out politicians, in short: all those who were once a state within a state and who now want to inject the hot heart of integrity into their perpetration - unfortunately a few decisive misdeeds too late.

In the inner courtyard of a disused partial prison, inmates of Tegel Prison perform Shakespeare's early tragedy in the adaptations by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Heiner Müller. Experts on reality, on how to deal with violence and the lessons to be learned from it, playfully approach a primeval archaic subject. How does self-worth get lost in vigilante justice, how does the longing for recognition turn into brutal arrogance, how does the pursuit of justice degenerate into a thirst for revenge? Theater as parable, valid on this side and beyond prison walls: conflict resolution through violence quickly leads to a life that is no longer in control.

We have not arrived at ourselves as long as Shakespeare is writing our plays. Wrote Heiner Müller. And Friedrich Dürrenmatt transforms Shakespeare's tragedy of decay into a farce. Both come to a startling truth: we are very much with ourselves, but unfortunately not in our right mind.

Performed by the Tegel Prison prisoner ensemble: André S., Atak, H. Peter Maier C.d.F., Horst Grimm, Idah.J, Jan M., Jörg, Khaled H., Kristian, Marco, Medjit, Moussa, Muhammet, Norman, Oliver, Paul E., Robin, Sven.

Director Peter Atanassow Stage design Holger Syrbe Costume design Haemin Jung Dramaturgy Franziska Kuhn, Hans-Dieter Schütt Musical Coach Vsevolod Silkin Choreography Suzann Bolick Production Management Sibylle Arndt Assistant Director Anaïs Scheel Costume Assistant Elena Chant Technicians Lilith Kautt, Lukas Maser Graphic Design Dirk Trageser

Tickets: 18 € / 12 € (reduced)

Ticket sales from Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 2 pm

at aufBruch-Onlineshop

Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and durch Zuwendungsmittel der Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection.
Supported by Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and JVA Tegel