Spirit And The Dust, Deutsches Theater, Berlin, Germany
Playwright: Noah Haidle, Director: Anna Bergmann
By: Angelika Jansen with Astrid Hiemer - Mar 08, 2026
A World-Premiere by Noah Haidle, Spirit And The Dust, at the Deutsches Theater, with Director Anna Bergmann.
The Deutsches Theater in Berlin has collaborated for the third time, producing a new play by Noah Haidle, titled, Spirit And TheDust, with the Suhrkamp Verlag, GmbH, Berlin. The play was translated again from American English by Barbara Christ at the 'Verlag.' Haidle has been working for many years with Suhrkamp Verlag, as he told me several months ago during a conversation. We met at a reading of the play, Sit - Down, by Anne Solomon Rutland. We shared some commonality: I have seen several plays at the Deutsches Theater, that is known for strong current or avant-garde/surreal theater. My cousin, Horst Hiemer, now deceased, was an actor at the theater for decades. And, Haidle told me that he intended to take his family for the first time to Berlin, to experience the opening on February 27, 2026. As far as I know, he did just that.
The Suhrkamp Verlag is one of Europe's most recognized publishing houses and their national and international lists of playwrights, authors, and poets are impressive. Haidle is among well known international company, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Naruda, Isabel Allende, even Samuel Beckett, Marcel Proust and Sylvia Plath. In German writing playwrights hail from Bertold Brecht to Ernst Weiss and Hans Magnus Enzensberger who also wrote under pseudonyms including Linda Quilt.
This is how Angelika Jansen experienced Spirit And The Dust during a recent performance. She is our correspondent for Berkshire Fine Arts in Berlin. Angelika published also recently her analysis of the February 22 ending Film Berlinale:
For the director Anna Bergmann, it is the third production of one of Haidle's works. She is intrigued by his writings because his figures and stories come alive for her. Again, the story of a woman takes center stage here, this time it is the aging real estate agent, Hope Foster, played by the fabulous Corinna Harfouch. She has lost her daughter many years ago, goes on with her life, feels guilty, but finds a new purpose in life as she slowly falls in love with Lee Chalmers (Alexander Khuon) the retired teacher of Latin. There is Hope's neighbor, Donna Tavares (Abak Safaei-Rad) who also has lost her child at the same swimming accident where Hope lost her daughter. And, there is Margaret Moore (Wiebke Mollenhauer) who cannot decide whether to marry the father of her unborn child that she eventually looses. And so it goes.
But amidst all these sad happenings, Hope does not loose her spirit. She and Donna and Margaret go on with their lives. The play is a story where hope springs out of impossible situations. Haidle created a play that is positive against all odds. One does not leave the theater euphorically but with a sense of positive vibes. It is an amazing task that Haidle mastered. And the Deutsches Theater created a positive situation out of sad circumstances.
Impressive was the Stage Settings by Kathrin Frosch, where the moving floor of the theater allowed swift changes. On spot Lighting was fixed by Cornelia Groth, and wild and weird costumes by Lane Schaefer. The music was created by Hannes Gwisdec, Video: Sebastian Pircher, Coreography: Ronni Maciel. And the dramaturge was Daniel Richter. Indeed, a good production that was able to create positive feelings derived from truly sad stories.
Uplifting against all odds!!!