Glaube Liebe Hoffnung

by Ödön von Horváth
In collaboration with Lukas Kristl
Directed by Mateja Koležnik

Ödön von Horváth calls his play “A Little Dance of Death,” a title that fails to capture the full force of this tragedy. At its center is Elisabeth, a young woman on the margins of society who desperately tries to escape a fine and social ruin. In her desperation, she is willing to sell her own body—while she is still alive and for scientific purposes. But every attempt leads her deeper into a web of bureaucratic coldness, social exclusion, and seemingly harmless rules that prove to be relentless. Even the hope for love becomes a trap.

Horváth does not depict grand crimes, but rather how people are broken by the little things: by regulations, expectations, and indifference. With a sharp eye and bitter humor, he exposes a society in which faith, love, and hope have become empty platitudes.

Director Mateja Koležnik brings classics to the stage with a precise, focused style. Her productions rely on the power of the text and the accuracy of the characters. In dense, enclosed spaces, she makes social mechanisms visible without commenting on them. With “Faith, Love, Hope,” she is directing at the SchauSpielHaus Hamburg for the first time.

Director: Mateja Koležnik
Set Design: Klaus Grünberg
Costumes: Ana Savić-Gecan
Choreography: Magdalena Reiter
Music: Michael Gumpinger
Dramaturgy: Matthias Günther

More info:Faith, Love, Hope | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg