Serdar Somuncu

In the organizer's words:

DO September 25, 2025, 8 pm
Serdar Somuncu
"Lies - Cultural history of a human weakness"
Why do we lie? When do we lie and how do we lie?
On average, adults lie 25 times a day. It seems as if we were born with the gift of telling untruths in order to free ourselves from the desire to be accepted for who we really want to be.
We lie out of fear of criticism or punishment, out of insecurity or shame, or even out of politeness so as not to hurt others. There are white lies, self-deception and excuses, compulsive liars and purposeful liars, cheats and slanderers. But is lying just a human weakness?
Or is it perhaps a skill that sets us humans apart from other creatures?
Is lying sometimes even a strength, or is it a bad habit that is clearly at odds with morality? Aren't we often much closer to ourselves in the safe hiding place of lies than in the sober truth?
Serdar Somuncu tackles these questions and tries to find answers. He not only looks at how our society deals with lies, but also looks at the development of how we deal with untruth in religion, philosophy, literature, sport, politics and ourselves.
Serdar Somuncu was born in Istanbul on June 3, 1968 and studied acting, music and directing in Maastricht and Wuppertal. Since 1985, he has directed numerous plays, worked as an actor, participated in TV and radio productions and is a successful cabaret artist and musician on stage.
After Der Adolf in mir, Karneval in Mio, Zwischen den Gleisen, dem Hasstament and Matchpointe, Lügen is his seventh book published by WortArt Verlag.