The Sorrows of Young Werther

Show & Culture

Goethe's best-seller The Sorrows of Young Werther, published in 1794, is presented in the Saarbrücken production as a fast-paced one-person play about a man who does not want to settle for a half-lived life. Werther despairs of the rigid society and is bored by his dull daily life. Everything changes with the overwhelming encounter with Lotte, who is unlike anyone else! Happiness, bliss... But unfortunately, Lotte is already promised to Albert, the most reasonable and unremarkable man of his time. Lotte is unattainable. Werther ends his life. Critics praise Raimund Widra's performance: "For 60 intense minutes, he rushes from one joke to the next, weaves through the audience, brims with enthusiasm, and suddenly plunges from euphoria to tragedy." A 250-year-old text that still feels current, marking the debut of the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Mersch.