Justiz

„Justice can only be restored by a crime.“ Roaring drunk, the lawyer Spät opens Dürrenmatt’s anti-crime novel with these words. Two years previously, the following events have occurred: Cantonal Councillor Kohler calmly enters the „Du Théâtre“ restaurant, which is frequented by politicians, financial managers and artists, and shoots the literature professor Winter in full view of all present. In the best of moods, Kohler has himself arrested. From prison, the multi-millionaire and avid snooker player hires the aspiring lawyer Spät to investigate his case – under the assumption that he is not the murderer: „Dear Spät, we now know the reality; that’s why I’m sitting here weaving baskets, but we barely know what is possible. It follows that we must rethink the real in order to venture into the realm of the possible.“ In „Justiz,“ Dürrenmatt reveals with black humour how revenge killing can become a response to a social system in which the law is everything, while justice is of no importance. In this production, Frank Castorf, who has fundamentally shaped German-speaking director’s theatre, grapples with the great author Dürrenmatt for the first time.