Theater: Nachtland - Württembergische Landesbühne Esslingen

A comedy by Marius von Mayenburg

After their father's death, siblings Nicola and Philipp clear out the attic of their parents' house - and discover a painting among the junk and rubbish. Old-fashioned, with an idealized landscape and a crooked church, they initially dismiss it as ugly kitsch, until they notice the signature: A. Hitler. Could they have an authentic work by Adolf Hitler in front of them? And what might it be worth?

When it becomes clear that it could be worth over 100,000 euros, their initial moral reservations quickly evaporate - a convenient story about grandmother Grete's Nazi past is hastily constructed. If only Philipp's Jewish wife Judith weren't there: the argument between the siblings and their partners escalates and sinks deeper into antisemitic prejudices.

Marius von Mayenburg's play is a bitterly cynical comedy about the heavy burden of German history, inheritance disputes, and a purely profit-driven understanding of art.