DER SANDMANN

Anyone who steals children’s eyes and casts the bloody balls to their own spawn is capable of anything! Even as a small boy, Nathanael cannot rid his mind of the sinister Sandman he is repeatedly warned about – particularly after his father suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances. Even years later, Nathanael is still haunted by fevered memories of the uncanny Coppelius, who had once incited his father to carry out ominous experiments and vanished without a trace after the “accident”. Had he not had his repulsive, long fingers in everything? Now a student in another city, Nathanael thinks he spies Coppelius – under a different name – and is seized with terror. But no one else recognises the threat; not even Clara, his fiancée, who appears completely unimpressed. Frustrated and bitter, he turns to the enigmatic Olimpia, the only one who seems to understand him. But once he realises that she is just another crushing disappointment, things spiral quickly towards disaster.

In the early 19th century, E. T. A. Hoffmann wrote a compelling horror story in which humour and horror are skilfully interwoven. In his first production at Schauspielhaus Zürich, Adrian Figueroa explores the complex inner world of the central character. With striking visual storytelling, he challenges our sense of reality and delusion, as bizarre characters reveal gateways to dark forces, the loss of empathy, and a hysteria of our times.