There exist theatre texts that do not lose their cultural significance through ageing, but through overuse. Jedermann by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) is a striking example of this. What was once intended as a contemporary reworking of the medieval morality play grew over the course of the twentieth century into an almost sacred tradition within the Salzburger Festspiele. The annual performances in Cathedral Square have not only elevated the piece, but simultaneously fixed it: from living text to ritual, from theatre to institution.
That is precisely where today's challenge lies. When a work becomes too firmly anchored in ceremony and heritage, it risks losing its direct impact. The German Jedermann Theater has been trying to break open that mechanism for several years. Under the direction of actor and director Nicolai Tegeler, the company tours an open-air production to squares and historical locations in Germany and Austria. It is not the festival venue that takes centre stage, but the public space itself once again.
This choice is more than practical or aesthetic. It touches on the origins of the genre. Jedermann is rooted in the tradition of morality plays, in which humanity literally stood among the people and experienced their mortality not within a closed theatrical context, but in a shared public reality. Hofmannsthal's adaptation from 1911 gave this tradition a symbolist and religious intensity, but at the same time retained its existential core: humanity, confronted with death, discovering how relative wealth, status and social appearance ultimately prove to be.
The touring Jedermann Theater restores precisely that tension between proximity and metaphysics. It deliberately avoids both the rhetoric of conceptual director's theatre and the temptation of nostalgic heritage play. Instead, it opts for a sober, text-focused approach in which rhythm, intelligibility and acting quality are central. The result is a form of popular theatre that does not simplify the text, but—by letting it sound just as direct and unprotected as on a medieval market square—actually deepens it.
The flexible ensemble structure is also striking. The production works with changing cast configurations in which experienced actors from theatre and television alternate. Names such as André Eisermann, Erol Sander, Thomas Thieme and Wolfgang Bahro give the project a recognizable artistic signature, without the whole becoming fragmented. On the contrary: it is precisely these varying playing styles that reinforce the liveliness of the performance.
What makes this staging particularly special is the seriousness and clarity with which the existential and religious dimension of the text is approached anew. Not as dogma or historical curiosity, but as a theatrical question. In a theatre climate that often balances between ironic distance and social updating, this Jedermann chooses remarkably consistently for directness. This gives Hofmannsthal's language room to resonate once again unfiltered.
And that is precisely where the current relevance of the piece lies. Behind the allegorical figures and the historical setting lies a thematic content that has hardly lost its sharpness: the fragility of an existence that is increasingly determined by possession, achievement and visibility. When all these certainties fall away, only the question remains of what we have truly lived.
That the Jedermann Theater brings this text back to squares and open-air locations is therefore more than an artistic choice. It is an attempt to situate theatre anew as a shared experience, outside the protected context of festivals and cultural institutions. Not as a monument, but as a living confrontation—precisely where this genre once originated: among the people.
Werner De Smet attended a performance last year for Klassiek Centraal and was so moved by it that he is going again in August this year (https://klassiek-centraal.be/jedermann-in-weimar-tussen-sterfelijkheid-en-stilte/). In preparation for the new staging, he spoke with director Nicolai Tegeler (https://klassiek-centraal.be/jedermann-in-weimar-nicolai-tegeler-zoekt-de-mens-achter-het-monument/) and Julian Weigend (https://klassiek-centraal.be/weimar-is-geen-decor-het-is-een-gesprekspartner-julian-weigend-over-jedermann-eeuwige-vragen-en-de-kracht-van-een-marktplein/), who has played the role of Jedermann from the start of the project.
Performances in Weimar from 12 to 15 August, but also in Bremen on 4 August and in Coburg, Graz and Bayreuth.