Werther lieben

For this play, Thomas Arzt was inspired by one of world literature’s most famous three-way relationships to write about the fears and desires of a generation that has learned to mistrust its own middle-class dreams.

This play revolves not around Werther, but the woman – whom Arzt has named Charlotte – who is caught in an emotional maelstrom between two men. Her fiancée is Max, a self-confident careerist strongly rooted in his native region yet at the same time urbane and worldly. He determines aspects of Charlotte’s life in the same way that he plans endless modifications to the house they share together. Their new neighbour, Ulrich, seems enticingly different. Bristling at the idea of too much security, he has recently bought a dilapidated old windmill in the countryside yet pursues his new renovation project half-heartedly because of the dissertation he’s concurrently writing. Suddenly, Charlotte finds herself re-examining her entire life. If being open to flexibility and having the courage to change things is the basis for becoming a free and successful human being, doesn’t a constant yearning for what’s new become the determining concept in our lives?