Kehlmann's Easter: The sobering premiere of the pandemic debacle!

Kehlmann's Easter: The sobering premiere of the pandemic debacle!

On September 6, 2025, Daniel Kehlmann's new play entitled “Easter” celebrated its premiere in the Kammerspiele of the Theater in der Josefstadt. The renowned author began developing the first six scenes as early as March 2020 and, of course, the title is based on a sentence from former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz from April 6, 2020: “It will be a week that will be decisive in determining whether the resurrection after Easter, which we all want, can actually take place” ( The press ).

The piece deals with the effects of the corona pandemic and spans people's everyday lives during the lockdown. Director Herbert Föttinger decided to postpone the premiere until after the pandemic in order to give the piece the space to find its way into reality. “Easter” was supposed to be the opening premiere of his last season and was prepared accordingly. With the additional integration of new scenes about vaccinations, the audience could hope for the development of a multifaceted work ( nachtkritik.de ).

Structure and direction

The piece is divided into two main parts. In the first part, entitled “Last Days”, everyday scenes during the lockdown are presented without any real point. These include the nerve-racking toilet paper shortage and the often bizarre government press conferences. Viewers get glimpses of absurdities like a police officer forcing a woman to leave her house, as well as the mutated behavior of neighbors who slander each other ( NOEN ).

The second part, titled “Resurrection,” describes an actor’s existence in a hotel room during his quarantine. This is where dialogues come into play that are strongly reminiscent of the absurd works of Samuel Beckett. Stephanie Mohr took over the direction, while musical and visual accents were set by Florian Parbs and Tanja Liebermann. The ensemble includes well-known names such as Raphael von Bargen and Ulrich Reinthaller ( nachtkritik.de ).

Criticism and reactions

The reviews for the premiere were mixed. While Ronald Pohl from the Standard describes the production as unsatisfactory and the humor as weak, Wolfgang Kralicek from the Süddeutsche Zeitung is more lenient with regard to the second part. Julia Schafferhofer from the Kleine Zeitung noticed a decrease in laughter during the performance, which indicates a certain disillusionment in the audience. Jakob Hayner from the World, on the other hand, sees a successful mixture of comedy and Kafkaesque absurdity in the second half ( The press ).

Overall, the piece is seen as an interesting, if not entirely convincing, examination of the crisis. Some critics believe that it may be too early to deal with the events of the Corona period in this way. “Easter” invites you to reflect on the powerlessness and absurdity experienced, even if the response so far has been very different ( NOEN ).