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The Vegetarian

based on a text by Han Kang

Theatre
Alte Chirurgie
Translated from Korean by Ki-Hyang Lee
[recommended for ages 16 and up]

Yong-Hye is a very ordinary woman. She runs her household immaculately and is always reliable. Her husband thinks her the perfect wife and they have an agreement of peaceful coexistence. Until, one night, Yong-Hye decides to throw out all animal products and become a vegetarian. A subversive act for her family who are scandalised. Her parents intervene and try to break her resistance by force. Without success. Finally, Yong-Hye refuses food entirely and finds her own path even though it threatens to end in disaster.

The story that unfolds is as poetic as it is disturbing. Nobel Prize winner Han Kang has written a text about an extreme though silent female rebellion, posing the question of how flexible our social structures are.


Content notes / Notes on sensitive content 


Please note that wheelchair access to the venue is unfortunately not possible. Three floors must be climbed via a staircase; there is no lift available.

Direction, Stage and Costumes
Choreography
Video Artist
Sound Design
Lighting Design
Dramaturgy
Production Management
Laura Krahn Alexander Schilling
Theatre Education
In the video
Alexander Bieringer, Sabrina Herzog, Dagmar Höfer
Project Coordination
Olga Boyarintseva
Soufflage
Sara Eichhorn
Assistance Direction, Interpreting and Collaboration on text
Valeria Karelina
Costume Assistant
Alessandra On
Hospitanz Direction
Gabriel Gnädinger

The production of the decorative parts is carried out in the workshops of the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.

A complete list of all employees of the technical departments involved can be found here.

Listen to an introduction by Jürgen Popig (in German) here.

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Trailer by Siegersbuschfilm

»Mutig« findet Johannes Breckner im Darmstädter Echo (23. September 2025) den Zugriff von Regisseurin Evgeniia Safanova auf den Stoff, ihre »ebenso radikale wie kluge Enscheidung«, auf äußere Aktion zu verzichten, wirke »wie eine Lupe, unter der die minimalen Signale der Empfindung vergrößert werden«. Der Rezensent zeigt sich beeindruckt von der »hochkonzentrierten Interpretation, deren leise Spannung nicht nachlässt«. Mit ihrer Arbeit im ehemaligen Hörsaal der Chirurgie sei Safanova »ein beklemmender Blick ins Museum des unerklärbaren Unglücks« gelungen.