Die letzten Tage der Menscheit

Karl Kraus's drama DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER MENSCHHEIT (The Last Days of Mankind) depicts the feverish society of 1914-1918 which plunged into the First World War, forever losing its humanity and being condemned to downfall. This almost unstageable dramatic text has now been transformed into an opera. The French composer Philippe Manoury and director Nicolas Stemann, together with set designer Katrin Nottrodt, have created an independent interpretation. DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER MENSCHHEIT condenses Kraus's monumental material into a "Thinkspiel" that combines opera, theatre, video, electronics, and orchestra. In several episodes of our making-of series, we take a look behind the scenes of the production: How was the visual design of the space developed? Which role do sound and electronics play? How was the textual material handled, which oscillates between historical document and satire? The videos not only document technical and artistic processes but also the collective search for a form that does justice to Kraus‘ spirit – without turning it into a museum piece. They document the creation of an evening that turns to history to pose questions to the present.

Philippe Manoury is one of the most influential voices in contemporary music theatre. In his setting of DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER MENSCHHEIT, symphonic orchestra meets live electronics, solo and choral singing, speech sounds and structural densification. In the video, Manoury gives an insight into his compositional considerations, his examination of Karl Kraus and the challenge of translating complex bulks of text into a musical form.

How does a stage set for a piece look that oscillates between coffee house, war landscape and media satire? Katrin Nottrodt is creating a versatile space for DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER MENSCHHEIT, incorporating historical references without illustrating them. In the video, she talks about her conceptual approaches, materiality, movement and the dialogue between stage and projections.

Nicolas Stemann approaches Karl Kraus' monumental text DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER MENSCHHEIT with a clear view of its linguistic-critical and political dimension. How can a ‘play without a plot’ be put on stage? In this video, the director explains his working techniques, the fusion of acting, music and video and the attempt to translate Kraus' critical thinking into a contemporary theatre form.