Diary of a Madman
based on a novella by Nikolai Gogol
Alter Saal
Aksenti Ivanovich wants to break free. Break free from the daily grind. He is a low ranking civil servant working in administration who can’t stand his colleagues. Especially the ones above him. They always find something wrong with him. The only thing that helps is to ignore them and to dedicate his time to worthier tasks: for example his superior’s daughter. He dreams of leaving behind the paralysing routine that the unyielding system of society forces on him. But who makes the rules? Isn’t it time to break with conventions? Who cares about class? Everyone can make it. You only have to make your own rules. »I've long suspected dogs of being much smarter than people; I was even certain they could speak.« Nikolai Gogol created a piece of world literature with his tragic and grotesque novella from 1835. With tenderness and a fine sense of justice, the Russian author of Ukrainian descent leads his characters to break with the conventions of his time. And a bit more fantasy should make every reality more bearable.
In an intense monologue, Leon Maria Spiegelberg enters the emotional world of a person who plays with realities, causing his unyielding surroundings to crumble.