by Oscar Wilde
Directed by: Tristan Linder
Premiere on 20/3/2026 in the MalerSaal
The shrug is back. Climate crisis, social inequality, political instability – we know the precipice, yet instead of resistance, we're dominated by world-weariness, unbridled self-promotion, irony, and the celebration of beautiful things. What's going on? Perhaps Oscar Wilde's cult novel offers an answer. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" captivates with its enchanting elegance – the book as well as its title character, at least at first glance. "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their own peril," Wilde warns in the preface to his novel. That's precisely what it's about: diving between the lines, behind the words. What can be discovered there?
Does unbridled behavior truly go unpunished? Or how else can we interpret Dorian Gray's shameless pursuit of his own path? Why did he lose his moral compass? Is he—across the ages—a mirror image of our present, revealing more about our own desires than we care to admit? The portrait's painter, at least, refuses to exhibit the work: "I've put too much of myself into it," he says. What makes him hesitate? And what is it that lends this work its uncanny timelessness?
Tristan Linder studied directing at the Hamburg Theatre Academy. His production of "Sandmann" was invited to the Körber Studio Young Directors program in 2025. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is his first production at the Schauspielhaus.
With: Yorck Dippe, Christoph Jöde, Henni Jörissen and Christiane von Poelnitz
Directed by: Tristan Linder
Stage: Anna Satu Kaunisto
Costumes: Lena Rickenstorf
Music: Alexander Schweiß
Lighting: Björn Salzer
Dramaturgy: Matthias Günther
