FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY

About the show

Ödön von Horváth calls his play "A Little Dance of Death"—a title that fails to fully capture the sheer force of this tragedy. At its heart is Elisabeth, a young woman on the fringes of society, desperately trying to escape a fine and a slide into social ruin. In her desperation, she is prepared to sell her own body—while still alive—for scientific purposes. Yet every attempt draws her deeper into a web of bureaucratic coldness, social exclusion, and seemingly innocuous rules that prove to be relentless. Even the hope for love becomes a trap. Horváth depicts not grand crimes, but rather how people are broken by small things: regulations, expectations, and indifference. With a keen eye and bitter humor, he exposes a society in which faith, love, and hope have become empty platitudes. Director Mateja Koležnik brings classics to the stage with a precise, focused artistic signature. Her productions rely on the power of the text and the precision of the characters. Within dense, enclosed spaces, she makes social mechanisms visible without offering commentary. With Faith, Hope and Charity she makes her directorial debut at the SchauSpielHaus Hamburg.