Düsseldorf experiences the premiere of the forgotten drama The Blind Passenger

Düsseldorf experiences the premiere of the forgotten drama The Blind Passenger

Düsseldorf, Deutschland - On June 1, 2025, Maria Lazar's premiere of the play "The Blind Passenger" took place in Düsseldorf, a author of Viennese modernity forgotten for decades. The drama, which plays in 1938 and was only brought on stage 90 years after his constitution, is about the desperate escape of a Jewish doctor named Hartmann, who is hiding on a Danish package boat to escape his pursuers. Lazar, who was born in Vienna in 1895 and died in Stockholm in 1948, fled to the Danish exile in 1933, where she continued to write but never found a readership again. It was only three years ago that her literary estate, which contains numerous unpublished works, was handed over to the Austrian exile library.

in "The Blind Passenger" Hartmann hides in a German port on a ship and is saved by Carl, a young light sailor, after jumping into the water. Carl stands between his family, which consists of father Petersen, sister Nina and her engaged Jörgen. The conflict on board unfolds when Nina is solidarity with Hartmann and falls in love with him, while Jörgen, who is suspicious and jealous, is also involved. Meanwhile, Petersen, as a captain, must be responsible for the security of everyone on board. These moral dilemmata are conceded in the stage design of Daniel Roskamp, ​​which reflects the narrow and drama of the Situation.

political responsibility and human conflicts

The piece not only addresses individual, but also collective responsibility in crisis situations. Lazar provocates who the true blind passenger is - Hartmann, Jörgen, the captain or the other characters? These central questions prove to be extremely topical because they illuminate the complex moral decisions that people have to make in times of political pressure.

Maria Lazar, who also worked as a journalist and translator, is now considered one of the important voices in Viennese modernity. Born as the youngest child of a wealthy Jewish family, she experienced the fate of many of her relatives when two of her sisters were deported to the Maly Trostinez extermination camp and died there. In her works, Lazar addresses the horrors of exile and the search for human dignity in an increasingly brutal world.

The estate of Maria Lazar, who has only been open to the public for a few years, includes unpublished novels, stories, poems and several unpecored plays, including "The Blind Passenger". This renaissance of her writer's work is considered long overdue by critics, since their questions about humanity and responsibility in times of crisis are still of great relevance today. This premiere in Düsseldorf not only offers the audience the opportunity to experience an important work of the past, but also stimulates to deal with the continued social issues of our time.

For more information about Maria Lazar and your work, visit Theaterexte and wikipedia .