“A
great
actor
and
artist”
(SZ about Devid Striesow)
“Jokes are the message in a bottle with which the desperate send out their most piercing cries for help.” – David Foster Wallace wrote about what it feels like to live today instead of distracting from it. He was convinced that there is a kind of despair that can be expressed through comedy alone. His texts are funny to the point of being hilarious and harrowing to the point of being hard to bear. They tell of all the age-old human problems and feelings that are not at all trendy right now. Wallace possessed the breathtaking ability to empathise with damaged souls and to tell stories drawn from their individual experiences. His unconventional view of the world opens up new horizons for ordinary mortals.
David Foster Wallace is recognised as one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 100 years. His novels, stories and essays are among the most intellectually and artistically daring that modern literature has produced. With this reading, actor Devid Striesow and director Thorsten Lensing continue their exploration of the author, which began with the legendary production of the novel “Infinite Jest”, which was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen and which was shown at the asphalt Festival in 2021.
Devid Striesow is one of the country’s best-known film, TV and theatre actors. The general public knows him as clever “Tatort” detective, as Hape Kerkeling actor (“Ich bin dann mal weg”) or as ruthless general in the film version of “Im Westen nichts Neues”, which won four Oscars. He has a long-standing collaboration with the acclaimed and multi-award-winning theatre director Thorsten Lensing. Striesow played one of the leading roles in “Verrückt nach Trost”, the very first play Lensing wrote for theatre. The New York Times named it “one of Europe’s best plays in 2022”, and last year he was spotted attending the asphalt Festival.
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What others say:
“He can be as tender as early love, as rough as an axe in the forest, bitter and angry, hurt and disappointed, desperate and even abandoned by himself.” (Ulrich Mühe on Devid Striesow)
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A production by Thorsten Lensing
with Devid Striesow
Set-up: Thorsten Lensing
