Die Räuber

In the organizer's words:

THE ROBBERS
by Friedrich Schiller
with the songs of DIE TOTEN HOSEN
Production Gil Mehmert
Stage Jens Kilian
Premiere June 27, 2025, 9 pm
Bad Hersfeld Abbey Ruins

A play like a hurricane! The story of two unequal brothers: the disadvantaged Franz rebels against his father and seeks revenge on his beloved, favored brother Karl. A bitter battle for power, freedom and revenge breaks out.

In Friedrich Schiller's "Robbers" there is pillage, murder and rape. - The premiere in Mannheim in 1782 caused one of the biggest scandals in theater history. "The theater resembled a madhouse," reported a friend of Schiller's, "clenched fists, screams in the auditorium, strangers fell into each other's arms sobbing, women staggered to the door, close to fainting." Schiller had to leave the city, but the play was on everyone's lips and made the author famous overnight.

Punk rock as a musical genre has always been an expression of a counterculture that questions existing norms - much like the Sturm und Drang movement, of which Schiller is considered a key representative. This era is characterized by rebellion against the father's generation and radically questions preconceived patterns of authority. It is driven by the desire for individual freedom and a life outside the conventional image of society.

"The grouping of outsiders in Karl Moor's gang has astonishing parallels to the decades-long output of the Toten Hosen, says director Gil Mehmert. "Intelligent punk rock with political content that tackles West German society characterizes the band's oeuvre, which, like Schiller, is considered to be style-defining for its genre."

A unique ensemble of actors, actresses and musical performers, supported by a five-piece rock band, will incorporate well-known and lesser-known songs by the Toten Hosen into Schiller's classic and reinterpret the story.

"It makes sense to bring this original German drama and its protagonists together with the songs of the German band Die Toten Hosen," says Mehmert, "I want to create a production in which Schiller's rousing, groundbreaking work is expanded, supplemented or counteracted by their songs, thereby opening up new emotional spaces."

Gil Mehmert, who recently thrilled audiences in the Bad Hersfeld Abbey ruins with his productions of "Cabaret", "Hair" and the world premiere of "Goethe!", transforms the church space into a unique setting for Schiller's heroes and anti-heroes with his typical energetic, musical-choreographic directorial style: "The band of robbers conquers the ruins like autonomous freedom fighters who want to occupy the nave for themselves," emphasizes the director. "The ruin is not so much a backdrop or background, but becomes the scene of the action itself."