The Dance of Death (Totentanz)

Have you heard of "Lost"? One of the most talked-about mystery series of the 00s? A computer that supposedly prevents the end of the world is located on an island remote from all traffic routes. The programme can only be sustained if a code is entered every 108 minutes. A situation that keeps the handful of people living there in captivity. What is the connection with the "Dance of Death"? Director Kay Voges considers "Lost" to be the inspirational link between Strindberg and the absurd theatre of Samuel Beckett. If on the one hand, Strindberg’s "Dance of Death" might be regarded as the Ur-drama of all relationship dramas, on the other, seen from Beckett’s time it appears like a vicious comedy about the absurdity of basing one’s relationships with other people and the world on rivalry and conflict. A kind of endgame between Alice and Edgar, a couple who are caught up in an eternal feud between each other with great relish, and Kurt, a visitor who does not believe in conflict as a principle worth basing one’s life on. Kay Voges and his cast set out to find the absurd humour within the abysses of dependence, self-assertion and impermanence.