The Young Vic Theatre today releases production photos for the UK premiere of Marius von Mayenburg’s jagged new satire Nachtland, translated by Maja Zade and directed by Tony Award-winning director Patrick Marber. It runs in the Main House until 20 April 2024 with press night on 27 February. Tickets are available at www.youngvic.org
Olivier, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated actress Jane Horrocks (Little Voice, Cabaret, Absolutely Fabulous) plays Evamaria; Jenna Augen (Leopoldstadt, Bad Jews, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery) plays Judith, Gunnar Cauthery (Dear England, This House) plays Fabian, John Heffernan (Much Ado About Nothing, Edward II, Dracula) plays Philipp, Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Leopoldstadt, Possession) is Nicola, and Angus Wright (Flowers, Peep Show, Oresteia) plays Kahl.
Nachtland* is a mordant satire about marriage, legacy, and the rise of the new right, directed by Patrick Marber (Closer, Travesties, Don Juan in Soho, Dealer’s Choice), winner of the 2023 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Play for Leopoldstadt.
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. His wife Judith wants to burn it.
*Nachtland is an invented German word. It suggests a place of eternal darkness
Marius von Mayenburg is one of Germany’s foremost playwrights whose plays include Fireface, Plastic and The Ugly One.
Maja Zade’s previous translations include works by Lars von Trier, Roland Schimmelpfennig and Lars Norén.
Design is by Anna Fleischle, lighting design by Richard Howell, composition and sound design by Adam Cork, movement direction by EJ Boyle, casting by Amy Ball CDG.