Heimsuchung - A Play Based on the Novel by Jenny Erpenbeck

"Heimsuchung" is a century-spanning novel about flight and expulsion, exile, identity, time and space - written by Jenny Erpenbeck, one of the most significant contemporary authors of German literature.

At its heart is a house by a lake in Brandenburg, which serves as the setting for fifteen life stories and fates - from the 1920s to the present day. Its inhabitants experience the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the war, East Germany, the fall of the Wall, and the post-reunification era. Erpenbeck gives each fate its own literary form, each unfolding in its own way, full of drama, tragedy and joy. Theater für Niedersachsen brings this panorama of the last century to the stage.

Jenny Erpenbeck was nominated six times for the International Booker Prize and in 2024 became the first German woman to win it. The Guardian included "Heimsuchung" on its list of "100 best books of the 21st century". The English translation of her novel "Kairos" was nominated in the USA for the National Book Award. Erpenbeck's books have been translated into over 30 languages.

"Heimsuchung" is required reading in German classes for the 2027 school-leaving cohort. Age recommendation: 16+

Production: Theater für Niedersachsen Hildesheim | Director: Ulrike Müller | Set and costumes: Jan Lehmann