DAS BUCH DER UNRUHE

About the show

The person who so poetically utters the sigh of a frustrated worker here is Bernardo Soares. And he, in turn, is one of the many literary personas employed by the great Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. Bernardo Soares is a junior bookkeeper in a fabric shop in Lisbon. He lives in a furnished room, works most of the time, and finds life a constant ordeal. His escape from the monotony is writing—and so, in his meager free time, he jots down his observations, thoughts, and dreams: “The true landscapes are those we create. Not one of the seven parts of the world interests me enough to truly want to see it; I travel to the eighth, and it is mine.” Fernando Pessoa, who worked as a low-level shop assistant in early 20th-century Lisbon and wrote for himself throughout his life, is now considered one of the pillars of European literature and one of Portugal's national poets. He died in 1935. His "Book of Disquiet," published posthumously in 1982, is a seminal work of the century. Director Luise Voigt most recently worked at the Schauspiel Frankfurt and the Thalia Theater in Hamburg and is known to Düsseldorf audiences for her acclaimed production of Büchner's "Woyzeck." She stages Pessoa's affectionate observations on humanity with an eight-member ensemble, using powerful imagery to create a meandering reflection on our perception.