“Nathan the Wise” – heard it before? Ring parable, religious dispute and a forbidden love story. Right. But that will probably not be enough for the Abitur. The Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus jumps to the side of all those who are preparing for the German exams in 2021 or who simply want to know what Lessing wanted to achieve with his world-famous drama from 1779. “nathan.to.go” is the new Instagram format with which D’haus uses the mobile production “Nathan (to go)” by Robert Lehniger (2018) to do fact checks and fun facts, videos and talks with actors and community representatives * brings practical tips for graduation to mobile devices free of charge.
From February 22nd to April 19th we will accompany Recha and the Templar together with their two actors Cennet Rüya Voss and Jonas Friedrich Leonhardi in daily postings through the dramatic entanglements, question the relevance of enlightenment and tolerance then and now and inspire to get close to the old language from the yellow booklet. Dramaturge Beret Evensen, theater pedagogue Thiemo Hackel and social media expert Julia Schweinsberger answer questions and moderate comments. Interference is welcome!
Lessing’s drama begins with the Jewish merchant Nathan returning to Jerusalem from a business trip. He learns that his daughter Recha was almost killed in a fire. A Christian crusader, the Templar, saved her life and fell in love with the Jewess. The Templar, in turn, had just barely escaped death himself. The Sultan Saladin was the only one of the prisoners of war to pardon him. When Sultan Saladin wants to borrow money from wealthy Nathan, he asks Nathan about the only “true religion”. Nathan talks for his life – and tells the famous “Ring Parable”, which is considered a key text of the Enlightenment.
What makes Nathan wise is his worldview. It is characterized by generosity and tolerance. Nathan’s belief is not above reason, but in harmony with it. What of this enlightened attitude, which Gotthold Ephraim Lessing gave shape over two hundred years ago in “Nathan the Wise”, must absolutely be preserved in an uncertain world like today – that is to be discovered.
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