Gambler

Is it possible to force the hand of fate? Is coincidence a matter of mathematical certainties which we need only recognize and use to our advantage? Seven characters succumb to the temptation of gambling – characters based on Dostoyevsky’s novels “The Gambler” and “The Raw Youth” who take on a life of their own on stage. The contours of their identities merge as their gambling addiction grows and they withdraw from the outside world. In effect, each of them is leading a life that takes them further away from what they truly desire and leads them to the brink of despair. The rules of the game now determine their lives and their every waking thought. This international theatre project intertwined the fates of individuals who are hopelessly addicted to gambling and, in portraying this addiction on stage, wished to illustrate the contradictory relationship between reason and risk-taking.

Director: Christiane Pohle; dramaturgy: Malte Ubenauf; artistic collaboration: Angelika Fink; set design: Duri Bischoff (CH); costume design: Sara Kittelmann; production: Katrin Dollinger, Franz Meiller; press and public relations: Claudia Illi; actors: Cora Frost, Carina Braunschmidt (CH), Magne Håvard Brekke (NO), Pascal Lalo (FR), Jörg Schröder, Jörg Witte; music: Philipp Haagen, Rainer Süßmilch.

Venues and schedule:
Theater Basel (Switzerland), premiere: 2 October 2010
Pathos Transport Theater, Munich, 6 – 10 October 2010