Der Häßliche

About

Latvia is shocked. All he wanted was to present his own invention at a public congress. With the best will in the world, he doesn't understand why he's being denied that. Neither his assistant nor his boss dare say it to his face. When he persists, he finally learns the truth from his wife: he is incredibly ugly. This revelation leads him to confide in a plastic surgeon. After the surgery, nothing is the same as before, and Lette's world inevitably gets out of joint; especially from the point where he's not the only one with his face anymore. What effects does our appearance have on our fellow human beings and thus on our own lives? What opportunities and obstacles result from an attractive or less attractive appearance? The satirical play of the same name by Marius von Mayenburg is turned into an entertaining, funny, at times absurd, but also thought-provoking piece of music theater by the composer in residence at the Dortmund Opera, Thierry Tidrow, and the librettist Manfred Weiß.