Schedule

Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel »Lolita« became a bestseller, albeit a controversial one. Since its publication, it has been the subject of heated debate, with accusations of pornography and calls for a ban on publication on the one hand, and admiration for its literary finesse on the other. The author viewed his title character – who has become a dubious myth – through the eyes of her stepfather. In her successful debut novel, Lea Ruckpaul allows Dolores Haze to survive and recounts the story of years of abuse in retrospect, with the analytical insight of an adult woman who does not wish to be understood solely as a victim.

Under the indifferent moon of Soho, London’s underworld attempts to arrest Mack the Knife with songs and words that are polished as sharp as his own blade. With »The Threepenny Opera« (world premiere 1928), Brecht, Hauptmann and Weill created an entirely new form of music theatre. A play about a society in which everything is reduced to its monetary value and criminals are citizens – and vice versa.  

24 hours in the Englischer Garten. Somewhere between Monopteros and the Haus der Kunst – in ten scenes and each time in pairs – DJ Ada, businessman Franzi, poet Graf, cleaner Maro and sex worker Eleonore meet. The multi-award-winning playwright Anja Hilling rethinks Arthur Schnitzler’s »Reigen« for the present. 

The theatre tour in German sign language explains the history of the building and provides insights into the numerous theatre professions and their work processes on and behind the stage.

Ahead of the show, cultural studies scholar and Gay Guide Anian Halder takes the audience on a journey of discovery through the Munich of Freddie Mercury. The city tour combines historic sites, queer history and the themes of the production to offer a shared exploration of a multifaceted figure and his era.

Freddie Mercury, front man of the legendary British rock band Queen, spent a lot of time in Munich from 1979 to 1985. He lived in several apartments here, forged close friendships and recorded his first solo album. What drew him to the Isar? Love, the wild nightlife and the many meeting points of the city’s gay community? The Musicland Studios of Giorgio Moroder and their pioneering innovations in electronic music? Or did he simply want to avoid the rigid British tax laws?

After a quarter of a century, Brandner Kaspar returns to the Residenztheater – and how! Based on Franz von Kobell's dialect story, Franz Xaver Kroetz tells the story of the Bavarian stubborn man who refuses to bow even to Death himself, the Boanlkramer, in a very honest and touching way, yet completely unsentimental and with a great deal of humour. Munich-based film, theatre and opera director Philipp Stölzl brings the «Gschichtn vom Brandner Kaspar» to the stage as a «big picture book, because the play is, of course, a fairy tale».

Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel »Lolita« became a bestseller, albeit a controversial one. Since its publication, it has been the subject of heated debate, with accusations of pornography and calls for a ban on publication on the one hand, and admiration for its literary finesse on the other. The author viewed his title character – who has become a dubious myth – through the eyes of her stepfather. In her successful debut novel, Lea Ruckpaul allows Dolores Haze to survive and recounts the story of years of abuse in retrospect, with the analytical insight of an adult woman who does not wish to be understood solely as a victim.

Under the indifferent moon of Soho, London’s underworld attempts to arrest Mack the Knife with songs and words that are polished as sharp as his own blade. With »The Threepenny Opera« (world premiere 1928), Brecht, Hauptmann and Weill created an entirely new form of music theatre. A play about a society in which everything is reduced to its monetary value and criminals are citizens – and vice versa.  

24 hours in the Englischer Garten. Somewhere between Monopteros and the Haus der Kunst – in ten scenes and each time in pairs – DJ Ada, businessman Franzi, poet Graf, cleaner Maro and sex worker Eleonore meet. The multi-award-winning playwright Anja Hilling rethinks Arthur Schnitzler’s »Reigen« for the present. 

Asiimwe Deborah Kawe's play tells the story of the life's work of an undocumented immigrant. Like so many others, the nurse Achen, the author's main character, contributes with her labour and as a taxpayer to the prosperity of a country that has decided to expel her overnight.

Under the indifferent moon of Soho, London’s underworld attempts to arrest Mack the Knife with songs and words that are polished as sharp as his own blade. With »The Threepenny Opera« (world premiere 1928), Brecht, Hauptmann and Weill created an entirely new form of music theatre. A play about a society in which everything is reduced to its monetary value and criminals are citizens – and vice versa.  

Tessa Ensler is a successful lawyer whose supreme discipline is the defence of defendants in sexual assault cases. Then she herself is raped - by a colleague. She reports him and is now on the other side of the cross-examination - as the victim. With «Prima Facie», Suzie Miller gives a voice to millions of women who suffer violence worldwide.

Das Halbfinale zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich am 8. Juli 1982 in Sevilla ist eines der denkwürdigsten Spiele in der Geschichte der Fußballweltmeisterschaft. Die nervenaufreibenden Ereignisse auf dem Platz drohten die deutsch-französische Freundschaft außer Kraft zu setzen. Der schreckliche Zusammenprall von Torwart Toni Schumacher und Patrick Battiston, die an Spannung nicht zu überbietende Verlängerung und das erste Elfmeterschießen einer Fußballweltmeisterschaft beschäftigen die Menschen auch mehr als vier Jahrzehnte nach dem spektakulären Aufeinandertreffen der beiden großen Fußballnationen im Halbfinale der 22. Fußballweltmeisterschaft in Spanien. 

A prince of fashion and a fairy-tale king. A bird of paradise and a cult figure. A Munich original and a philanthropist. During the course of his lifetime, Rudolph Moshammer was given countless of these nicknames and soubriquets. Everyone recognized him as an eccentric with his dog Daisy on his arm, a talk show guest and man of society. Like his role model, Bavaria’s fairy-tale king Ludwig II, he loved glamour, opulence, and excess. In his appearances as an actor and in advertisements, as a singer in the preliminary round for the Eurovision Song Contest and with books like «Mama und ich» (Mama and Me), he became a cult figure and his fashion boutique «Carnaval de Venise» in Maximilianstraße became a cult address and place of pilgrimage for Mosi fans.

Tessa Ensler is a successful lawyer whose supreme discipline is the defence of defendants in sexual assault cases. Then she herself is raped - by a colleague. She reports him and is now on the other side of the cross-examination - as the victim. With «Prima Facie», Suzie Miller gives a voice to millions of women who suffer violence worldwide.

Freddie Mercury, front man of the legendary British rock band Queen, spent a lot of time in Munich from 1979 to 1985. He lived in several apartments here, forged close friendships and recorded his first solo album. What drew him to the Isar? Love, the wild nightlife and the many meeting points of the city’s gay community? The Musicland Studios of Giorgio Moroder and their pioneering innovations in electronic music? Or did he simply want to avoid the rigid British tax laws?

In seinem Roman «Wolf» erzählt Saša Stanišić eine Geschichte über Freundschaft, Zugehörigkeit und Courage und stellt die Frage, was es bedeutet, anders zu sein. Kemi wird von seiner Mutter in ein Ferienlager im Wald verbannt. Seinen Schlafplatz muss er sich mit Jörg teilen, einem Außenseiter, der noch weniger dazuzugehören scheint und noch dazu von seinen Mitschüler*innen «andersiger» gemacht wird. Geplagt von Mücken, übermotivierten Betreuer*innen und fiesen Spielereien der anderen Jugendlichen versuchen die beiden, die Zeit zu überstehen. Doch dann taucht nachts auch noch der Wolf auf und Kemi wird auf die Probe gestellt: Zieht er sich weiter zurück oder findet er den Mut, sich zu wehren?

Heinrich Mann’s perceptive bildungsroman published in 1914 «The Loyal Subject» is a wickedly humorous portrait of the Wilhelmine Empire and its self-congratulatory middle classes with their nationalistic fantasies of being a great power. Mann’s protagonist Diederich Hessling is a spineless opportunist with no moral courage. He only forgets his insecurities at the stammtisch, working himself up to give great nationalistic speeches. However, Mann does not present Hessling as a joke – he is a complex but ultimately warped personality with a blind faith in authority.

During the global economic crisis of the 1920s, a young woman tries out self-realization and yet ends up in a restrictive marriage, confronted with misogyny and male bonding as well as the rise of National Socialism. Elsa-Sophie Jach adapts Marieluise Fleisser's only novel for the stage.

A longtime favourite of Munich audiences, the exceptional actor Manfred Zapatka, appears as one of William Shakespeare’s great title characters: King Lear. The play is a character study of an ageing, unpredictable patriarch and tyrant. 

24 hours in the Englischer Garten. Somewhere between Monopteros and the Haus der Kunst – in ten scenes and each time in pairs – DJ Ada, businessman Franzi, poet Graf, cleaner Maro and sex worker Eleonore meet. The multi-award-winning playwright Anja Hilling rethinks Arthur Schnitzler’s »Reigen« for the present. 

Heinrich Mann’s perceptive bildungsroman published in 1914 «The Loyal Subject» is a wickedly humorous portrait of the Wilhelmine Empire and its self-congratulatory middle classes with their nationalistic fantasies of being a great power. Mann’s protagonist Diederich Hessling is a spineless opportunist with no moral courage. He only forgets his insecurities at the stammtisch, working himself up to give great nationalistic speeches. However, Mann does not present Hessling as a joke – he is a complex but ultimately warped personality with a blind faith in authority.

A longtime favourite of Munich audiences, the exceptional actor Manfred Zapatka, appears as one of William Shakespeare’s great title characters: King Lear. The play is a character study of an ageing, unpredictable patriarch and tyrant. 

Under the indifferent moon of Soho, London’s underworld attempts to arrest Mack the Knife with songs and words that are polished as sharp as his own blade. With »The Threepenny Opera« (world premiere 1928), Brecht, Hauptmann and Weill created an entirely new form of music theatre. A play about a society in which everything is reduced to its monetary value and criminals are citizens – and vice versa.  

Autorin und Kulturkritikerin Alice Hasters präsentiert in einer Lesung mit anschließendem Gespräch ihr neues Buch »Anti-Opfer. Warum wir Verletzlichkeit verachten«. Darin beschreibt sie den kulturellen Wandel einer Gesellschaft, in der Sensibilität als elitär gilt, und der nicht zufällig mit einem Aufschwung von Autoritarismus und Faschismus einhergeht. Der Abend wird moderiert von Esther Diestelmann.

Suddenly the phone rings and life changes from one day to the next. This was also what Simone de Beauvoir and her sister experienced when they found out that their mother was in hospital. Simone de Beauvoir describes honestly and movingly what it means to bid farewell to the person who gave you life. Following the success of «(Non)Mothers!» the actors Sibylle Canonica, Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stiegler produce the stage premiere of this personal piece of world literature.

The legendary musical «Cabaret» entices us into the dazzling world of the Kit Kat Club in the 1930s. Every night the enigmatic Sally Bowles thrills the audience with her famous song «Life is a Cabaret», a celebration of decadence and diversity. The young American Clifford Bradshaw is caught up in this intensely sensual world. Yet, at the same time, something dark is becoming an ever-stronger presence in the daily lives of these exuberant fun-lovers.

For her first production at the Residenztheater, the director Rieke Süßkow, renowned for the thoroughly composed aesthetic of her work, has chosen the last drama of the great Spanish writer Federico García Lorca. Its protagonist Bernarda Alba is a widow who declares eight years of mourning after the death of her husband and turns her house into a form of prison for her five daughters while unquestioningly accepting the patriarchal system of provincial Spain.

The Jewish author Anna Gmeyner, rediscovered only a few years ago – she was forced into exile by the Nazis in 1933 – tells the story of the big world in miniature in Automatenbüfett. While Mrs Adam tries to keep her vending machine restaurant running, Mr Adam pursues his supposedly revolutionary economic vision, which is supposed to serve the good of all. However, with the appearance of the unknown Eva, the eternal order of the small town begins to falter.

The legendary musical «Cabaret» entices us into the dazzling world of the Kit Kat Club in the 1930s. Every night the enigmatic Sally Bowles thrills the audience with her famous song «Life is a Cabaret», a celebration of decadence and diversity. The young American Clifford Bradshaw is caught up in this intensely sensual world. Yet, at the same time, something dark is becoming an ever-stronger presence in the daily lives of these exuberant fun-lovers.

For her first production at the Residenztheater, the director Rieke Süßkow, renowned for the thoroughly composed aesthetic of her work, has chosen the last drama of the great Spanish writer Federico García Lorca. Its protagonist Bernarda Alba is a widow who declares eight years of mourning after the death of her husband and turns her house into a form of prison for her five daughters while unquestioningly accepting the patriarchal system of provincial Spain.

Every Saturday you have the opportunity to discover the world behind the scenes at the Residenztheater.

Intrigues, conspiracies, political intrigues - Schiller's tragedy depicts the power struggle between the English Queen Elizabeth I and the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart. But what if only chance decides between power and powerlessness? Then the roles could also be «swapped». For each performance, a draw is held to decide which of the two actresses will play the victor or the vanquished.

During the global economic crisis of the 1920s, a young woman tries out self-realization and yet ends up in a restrictive marriage, confronted with misogyny and male bonding as well as the rise of National Socialism. Elsa-Sophie Jach adapts Marieluise Fleisser's only novel for the stage.

Neun Münchner Theater machen einen Aktionstag für Demokratie und Vielfalt mit Workshops für alle von 6 bis 99 Jahren. Bring dich ein! Mach mit!

A longtime favourite of Munich audiences, the exceptional actor Manfred Zapatka, appears as one of William Shakespeare’s great title characters: King Lear. The play is a character study of an ageing, unpredictable patriarch and tyrant. 

Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel »Lolita« became a bestseller, albeit a controversial one. Since its publication, it has been the subject of heated debate, with accusations of pornography and calls for a ban on publication on the one hand, and admiration for its literary finesse on the other. The author viewed his title character – who has become a dubious myth – through the eyes of her stepfather. In her successful debut novel, Lea Ruckpaul allows Dolores Haze to survive and recounts the story of years of abuse in retrospect, with the analytical insight of an adult woman who does not wish to be understood solely as a victim.

Oedipus, the lead candidate of a new political movement, is as good as assured of election victory. But why are the circumstances of his predecessor’s fatal road traffic accident classified? And what is the fake news regarding his origins about? Oedipus starts to investigate – despite all the warnings. As in his updating of Schnitzler’s «The Doctor», Robert Icke has radically translated a theatre classic into the present. Icke’s «Oedipus» looks behind the myth and is both a family tragedy and a political thriller.

Asiimwe Deborah Kawe's play tells the story of the life's work of an undocumented immigrant. Like so many others, the nurse Achen, the author's main character, contributes with her labour and as a taxpayer to the prosperity of a country that has decided to expel her overnight.

Judge Adam has a serious problem: not only does he have to cope with the severe effects of his nightly alcohol consumption, but also the sudden appearance of his superior Walter, who intends to take a close look at the administration of law in the provinces. Adam is forced to try a case publicly in court where he is obliged to investigate himself, which uses all the means at his disposal to conceal. Kleist’s disturbing comedy turns into an investigative drama about a veritable legal scandal.

A UFO in the shape of a weisswurst lands in front of the Bayerische Staatskanzlei: is this a film or reality? The film maker and asphalt cowboy Klaus Lemke embarks together with a group of aliens on a high speed, madcap journey through Munich’s history in search of what the city once was and could perhaps be in future. Albert Ostermaier’s new play is an affectionate homage to the film poet Klaus Lemke, who died in 2022, and both a hymn to and reckoning with his home city of Munich.

This new work by the Italian director Silvia Costa combines two plays by Marguerite Duras, the grande dame of French literature. While in «La Musica», on the evening after their divorce, a couple take a realistic look back at the life they shared and imagine what might have happened if they had stayed together, «The English Lover» presents the nightmare version of the end of a relationship, in which violence that has been smouldering for years erupts.

Once a month, you have the opportunity to creatively explore a play from our program in the «Resi Workshop». In the two-hour workshop you will approach the respective production with text excerpts, playful exercises and improvisations.

After a quarter of a century, Brandner Kaspar returns to the Residenztheater – and how! Based on Franz von Kobell's dialect story, Franz Xaver Kroetz tells the story of the Bavarian stubborn man who refuses to bow even to Death himself, the Boanlkramer, in a very honest and touching way, yet completely unsentimental and with a great deal of humour. Munich-based film, theatre and opera director Philipp Stölzl brings the «Gschichtn vom Brandner Kaspar» to the stage as a «big picture book, because the play is, of course, a fairy tale».

Suddenly the phone rings and life changes from one day to the next. This was also what Simone de Beauvoir and her sister experienced when they found out that their mother was in hospital. Simone de Beauvoir describes honestly and movingly what it means to bid farewell to the person who gave you life. Following the success of «(Non)Mothers!» the actors Sibylle Canonica, Barbara Horvath and Lisa Stiegler produce the stage premiere of this personal piece of world literature.

Playwright Yasmina Reza («James Brown Wore Curlers») is fascinated by court cases, and her collection of short stories summarises her observations from recent years. She laconically and pointedly observes the moments when incomprehensible deeds must be judged, conflicting statements must be found to be true or false, and often entire lives hang in the balance – and, almost in passing, captures a panorama of human existence. Resident director Nora Schlocker adapts the texts for the stage.

Jovana Reisinger’s novel follows nine women from early spring to the summer of an unspecified year not far from the present. All of them live in or around Munich and they are all named after women’s magazines. They live and fail representatively, each of them alone and yet collectively, by the images and ideals of what it means to be a woman.

The Austrian playwright Werner Schwab is regarded as a radical reviver of the folk play and a linguistic virtuoso. For his comedy «Die Präsidentinnen», he created three incomparable female characters in Erna, Grete and Mariedl who try to defend their modest place in life with peasant cunning and a will to survive only to be tripped up by their own vainglorious delusions.  

In Peter Weiss’ boundary breaking drama, two champions of excess disillusioned with the French Revolution meet: Marat v. de Sade. A debate between Marat, the advocate of terror, and the Marquis de Sade, the libertine, about the all-important question of whether change is at all possible. And if so, at what price? And by what means? «Marat/Sade» is a spectacle of transition, of changing times and of doubt.

Under the indifferent moon of Soho, London’s underworld attempts to arrest Mack the Knife with songs and words that are polished as sharp as his own blade. With »The Threepenny Opera« (world premiere 1928), Brecht, Hauptmann and Weill created an entirely new form of music theatre. A play about a society in which everything is reduced to its monetary value and criminals are citizens – and vice versa.  

22 voices talk about their mothers, becoming a mother, being a mother, never wanting to become a mother or not wanting to become a mother and not being able to become a mother. They intertwine to create a piece about decisions, doubts, (miscarriages) births, cancellations, transformations and courageous actions.

This new work by the Italian director Silvia Costa combines two plays by Marguerite Duras, the grande dame of French literature. While in «La Musica», on the evening after their divorce, a couple take a realistic look back at the life they shared and imagine what might have happened if they had stayed together, «The English Lover» presents the nightmare version of the end of a relationship, in which violence that has been smouldering for years erupts.

Successful playwright Lot Vekemans hits the nerve of the times with her new play. With great sensitivity, she tells the story of a father and daughter, played by Manfred Zapatka and Juliane Köhler, who have seemingly irreconcilable attitudes to social and political issues, and asks how these conflicts can be overcome.

«After Midnight» tells the story of two days in 1936. Nineteen-year-old Sanna takes refuge with her brother Algin, a blacklisted author. In between the parties, cafes and bars she begins to recognise that the world she lives in has been increasingly taken over by ideology. Keun’s novel from exile is a haunting depiction of daily life under fascism – her second international success after «The Artificial Silk Girl».

The growing number of crises and dramas that keep the world in suspense requires calm assessment, intelligent explanation and fitting analysis – and a modicum of caution. In the talk series »Zwischenruf« artists, academics, journalists and politicians discuss urgent topical themes: they talk about social upheaval and the crisis of trust in society, about extremism and macho politics, fear of the future and resilience. The series is curated and moderated by the long-serving SZ correspondent and expert on Eastern Europe Cathrin Kahlweit.

1937 in a fishing village after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Mrs. Carrar has forbidden her sons to join the fight against Franco. She desperately hopes to be spared war and terror. But how much longer can she protect herself and her sons? And what should she say to her brother, who demands that she hand over the guns hidden in the house and asks the all-important question: «If the sharks attack you, is it you who will use violence?» In Brecht's short play, everything revolves around the unsettling question of the possibility of neutral abstention. In his play «Choking Lead», playwright Björn SC Deigner continues Brecht's question in the present and searches for a language for the timeless horror of war and destruction.

Tessa Ensler is a successful lawyer whose supreme discipline is the defence of defendants in sexual assault cases. Then she herself is raped - by a colleague. She reports him and is now on the other side of the cross-examination - as the victim. With «Prima Facie», Suzie Miller gives a voice to millions of women who suffer violence worldwide.

Playwright Yasmina Reza («James Brown Wore Curlers») is fascinated by court cases, and her collection of short stories summarises her observations from recent years. She laconically and pointedly observes the moments when incomprehensible deeds must be judged, conflicting statements must be found to be true or false, and often entire lives hang in the balance – and, almost in passing, captures a panorama of human existence. Resident director Nora Schlocker adapts the texts for the stage.

Residenztheater and LMU Munich enter the second season of their co-operation with the question »How do people protect themselves from themselves?«. Understanding science and theatre as a continuum of approaches to the world means researching on stage and discovering storytelling within the sciences.