Death of a Banker

Opera by Fabian Scheidler (concept and libretto)
and Andreas Kersting (music)
Premiered at the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater Görlitz, Germany, on April 6, 2013

The play is situated in the fictitious country of “Ionia,” which is subjected to a radical “shock therapy” during a severe economic crisis. Privatization of public goods, mass unemployment, soaring suicide rates and street revolts mark the country. The play tells the story of two characters from very different spheres of society clashing in the maelstrom of the crisis. Dalilah, on the one hand, is a young woman who is constantly overworked as she needs two poorly paid jobs to make a living. When her beloved grandmother commits suicide because of being evicted from her apartment, Dalilah is thrown off the track. Dennis Lundt, on the other hand, is a shooting star among young investment bankers, making huge profits with bets on state defaults. For him, the crisis is offering a splendid opportunity: a group of investors around the enigmatic multibillionaire called “The Prince” aims to buy the Acropolis in order to turn it into a luxury resort for the hyper-rich. Lundt is chosen to broker the top-secret deal with the Ionian finance minister. By chance, Dalilah, working as a waitress in the club where the meeting takes place gets wind of the planned deal. Feeling that she has nothing left to loose, she robs some of the documents in a nightly action and makes them public. As a result, Lundt looses his balance and is drawn into the whirlwind of an upcoming revolt. He finally learns that he was never in control of events but driven himself by the dynamics of a much greater game that he understands only when it is too late for him.

The Greek theater version was published in 2014 by Fylatos Publishers (Thessaloniki).

Download of the press release (english)

Cast

Musical director: Ulrich Kern
Director: Klaus Arauner
Stage design and costumes: Britta Bremer
Choreography: Dan Pelleg , Marko E. Weigert
Dramaturgy: Sebastian Ritschel , Ronny Scholz

Dalilah: Yvonne Reich
Athina: Noa Frenkel
Dennis Lundt: Jan Novotny
Linda Ernst: Audrey Larose Zicat
Viktor Mann: Hans-Peter Struppe
Mrs. Mann: Patricia Bänsch
A nurse for the elderly: Patricia Bänsch
Supervisor in the call-center: Audrey Larose Zicat
Undertaker: Michael Berner
The finance minister of Ionia: Tim Stolte
Restaurant owner: Stefan Bley
The Prince: Michael Berner
Schwarzwasser: Stefan Bley
The President: Tim Stolte
Choir of the Ionians | Choir of the bankers | Choir of the call-center-operators

Dance Company of the GHT Görlitz-Zittau
Choir of the GHT Görlitz-Zittau
Orcherstra: Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie

Page pf the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater Görlitz: Tod eines Bankers

Videos

MDR report on the premiere (in German)

Trailer of the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater

Interview with the author Fabian Scheidler (in German)

Interview with the composer Andreas Kersting (in German)

Audio

Interview with Fabian Scheidler on Opernetz.de (in German)

Bestellung

Cette publication est également disponible en DE.