Das kalte Herz

A fairy-tale adventure of fortune seekers, heart hunters and the dream of advancement for children, young people and adults.

Peter Munk, a poor, hard-working charcoal-burner boy, is seized by a longing for prestige, wealth and success. Desperate, he puts all his hope in the old, superstitious miracle stories and seeks his fortune first with the legendary little glass man, but then he turns to the Dutchman-Michel, feared as a demon, and makes a pact with him: he trades his heart for a cold stone and receives immeasurable wealth in return. But from now on he can no longer enjoy anything.... At first glance, Wilhelm Hauff's novella is an eerily beautiful, romantic fairy tale; at second glance, it is a mad chase through the abysses of the human soul; and at third glance, it is an experiment about man in a material world and the richness of the heart - a story that moves everyone.

"Fairy tales portray moments of destiny in which we humans are forced to choose between different attitudes to life. Whether we allow the authorities to define what reality is, or whether we ourselves stand up to the supposed constraints with our reality - that decides whether life succeeds or fails, and fairy tales are full of them." Eugen Drewermann

Jo Fabian, who received the award for Best Youth Production in NRW this year for his "Wilhelm Tell" at the Theater an der Ruhr, directs Hauff's fairy tale with seven actors.

A co-production with the FFT Düsseldorf.