Nachtland

Modern day Germany: Nicola and Philipp argue as they clear out their late father’s house. When they find an old painting stashed in the attic, things get savage. The painting is a quaint street scene from 1920s Vienna; the work of a failed artist who abandoned his original vocation for Nazism.

Nicola wants to sell it. Philipp wants to keep it. Philipp’s wife Judith wants to burn it.

Nachtland (an invented German word that suggests a place of eternal darkness) is a mordant satire about marriage, legacy, the rise of the new right, and the terrible impulses buried deep. Directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky. Eugene R. Sheppard, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought, will give a brief talk about the historical context of the play after the reading.

Content notes: Themes of racism, particularly antisemitism; References to the Holocaust and the Israel-Palestine conflict; References to the death of a parent; Scenes of incest and violence; Strong language, including explicit sexual language.