Das Dinner I Ruhrfestspiele 2025

The dinner based on the novel "Angerichtet" by Herman Koch
Director: András Dömötör
Deutsches Theater Berlin

What would you do if you were about to become prime minister of the country and suddenly found out about a crime committed by your adolescent son and his cousin? For which there seem to be no witnesses and which is already beginning to disappear from the country's short-term memory?

Two pairs of parents meet for dinner in a posh restaurant and carefully feel their way through the aperitif, starter and numerous other courses. Each individual in this family quartet knows more than they initially thought and assesses the situation differently. Was it childish naivety, youthful testing of boundaries or a cold crime committed by their sons? Should they report their children so that the youngsters can be held responsible? Or would it be better to cover up the whole thing so as not to ruin their sons' future? After all, it was only a neglected homeless woman who died and who nobody will really miss. And don't the adults also have something to lose? The fact is: in the end, a person is dead. And the parents need to talk.

Director András Dömötör, most recently a guest at the Ruhrfestspiele with his production of Albert Camus' "The Plague", stages "The Dinner" precisely, with a light hand and full of facets - and of course with a brilliant all-star cast. It is pure joy to watch them play, they give each other nothing: Maren Eggert and Ulrich Matthes, Wiebke Mollenhauer and Bernd Moss as restaurant guests, perfectly served and played around by Jens Koch, Carlo Krammling and Andri Schenardi.

Audience discussion: May 14, following the performance Age rating: 14+