Schuld und Sühne – allerdings mit anderem Text und auch anderer Melodie

In the organizer's words:

Guilt and Atonement - but with a different text and also a different melody - by Barbara Bürk and Clemens Sienknecht after Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky - world premiere on May 13, 2023 - Schauspielhaus, Kleines Haus - Drama

In their works, Barbara Bürk and Clemens Sienknecht bring the great materials of world literature to the stage and transfer them into their own musically virtuoso cosmos. In the series with the subtitle "but with a different text and also a different melody" they condense important literary works to their essentials. Their production of "Effi Briest" in this format was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2016. In 2018, they transformed Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" at the D'haus into "Wonkel Anja - Die Show!"

Now they take on "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky. The crime novel, published in 1866, is a work of the century. Over 700 pages, it fans out the character study of the poor student Raskolnikov. The social milieu, the political mood, the family - all this leads Raskolnikov to the conviction that he is an extraordinary person who is allowed to kill. Not only to ensure his own survival, but above all to "help poor exploited humanity." Delirious, he commits a double murder, after which guilt torments him. Can only a confession redeem him? Or will investigating judge Porfirij convict him as a murderer beforehand?

Barbara Bürk and Clemens Sienknecht have the case investigated by a group of passionate amateur criminologists. The passionate radio fans broadcast their true-crime feature about Raskolnikov directly from their basement studio onto the airwaves. Playing, dancing and singing, with disco classics, cantatas, commercials or radio jingles, they stay close on the trail of Dostoyevsky's characters until the showdown.