Der Untertan

In the organizer's words:

Heinrich Mann's novel "The Subject" tells the story of the opportunistic careerist Diederich Hessling, who learned early on to bend upwards and step downwards. In a frighteningly contemporary way, Heinrich Mann describes the biography of a man who, with every turn of his life, submits more and more to society's sense of authority and at the same time becomes his own tyrant. Now the story is coming to the stage of the Altonaer Theater as a contemporary play, revealing the mechanisms of a society characterized by a belief in authority and a striving for power.

Diederich Hessling grows up in a strict home and learns early on to bow to authority. He goes from being a timid schoolboy to an unscrupulous industrialist and supporter of the authoritarian state. He hypocritically longs for his own security and at the same time becomes a pillar of an authoritarian system.

But how does one become a subject? Karin Drechsel's production examines the deeply topical novel to see how an individual is shaped by an authoritarian system and at the same time helps to shape it. An evening about power, fear and the need to conform - uncertainties and questions about social life that are relevant again today.

Director and stage direction: Karin Drechsel
Stage and costumes: Christine Grimm
Dramaturgy: Gregor Schuster

With Len Bartens, Marlon Hangmann, Ben Daniel Jöhnk, Kathrin Ost, Anne Schieber and Miriam Schiwek

Premiere on October 12, 2025
Performances until November 22, 2025

Price information:

Reduced tickets are available from €13*. For more detailed price information, please contact the box office at tickets@altonaer-theater.de or call 040 3990 5870. *Only valid on certain days of the week. Subject to change without notice.