THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER

What gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning these days? Amid climate collapse, war, artificial intelligence, and an overwhelmed society, Goethe’s THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER becomes the story of a generation searching for hope in dark times.

Goethe’s celebrated epistolary novel follows young Werther, who leaves behind his familiar world and retreats to the countryside in search of a life closer to nature. There, he passionately falls in love with Lotte, who is already engaged to Albert. As his unrequited love deepens and his despair over society’s prevailing structures grows, Werther spirals into an emotional crisis from which there seems to be no escape. Yet Werther is more than a tragic lover. He is a seeker of meaning who, like so many others, feels increasingly powerless and lost in the face of the overwhelming demands of this world. 

And that is precisely where the relevance of Goethe’s text—which he wrote at the age of 25—begins, making it accessible to the issues of today. What will happen to us if the climate crisis destroys our habitat? When democratic institutions come under pressure? When artificial intelligence transforms the world of labour and takes over half of our jobs? When war once again enters everyday political reality? What if the best days are long gone? What remains to look forward to—tomorrow, next week, in the coming years?
How do we find purpose in a world that often seems to have no place for us? How can we live fulfilling lives amid uncertainty, anxiety, and constant upheaval? THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER revolves around these questions. In doing so, it becomes more than the story of one young man’s despair: it becomes a collective search for hope in dark times.

Simon Solberg, born in Bonn in 1979, studied acting at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. After working in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main, he made his directorial debut at Schauspiel Frankfurt in 2005 with Odyssee reloaded. Over the next two years, Solberg served as resident director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, and during the 2012–13 season as resident director and co-artistic director at Theater Basel. With his production of Urgötz, he opened Armin Petras’s tenure as artistic director at Schauspiel Stuttgart in the fall of 2013. Solberg’s work has also been presented at venues including the Münchner Volkstheater, the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Schauspiel Köln, the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, and the Staatsschauspiel Dresden. Since the 2018–19 season, Simon Solberg has been the resident director at Theater Bonn and has staged plays such as RETHINKING OUR WORLD, OF MICE AND MEN, and CARNAGE.