Maria Stuart - Premiere

When the Scottish Queen Maria Stuart is suspected of murdering her own husband, she seeks refuge in England with her distant cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. But with her claims to the English throne, she becomes a threat to Elizabeth and her advisors - she is arrested and charged with high treason.

Schiller's royal drama unfolds three days before Maria's planned execution and places the encounter of the two women at its centre: a duel fought with the weapons of reason and emotion. In the tension between political power and human helplessness, Schiller asks about the possibility of responsible rule.

Director Antigone Akgün focuses on two questions: How does female rule assert itself in a system created by men? And how does power change the people who possess it? Akgün's Aachen production of "Unser Deutschlandmärchen" was invited in 2025 to the Festival for Young Directors "Radikal Jung" in Munich - now she directs for the first time in the Grand Hall.