a project by Jan-Christoph Gockel
“Nervous breakdown in Antarctica – Russian researcher stabs colleague,” headlined Focus magazine in October 2018. The two men involved, Oleg B. and Sergei S., shared not only their workplace in the Antarctic wilderness, but also their passion for reading.
Image gallery
Deutsches Theater
When Oleg revealed the ending of a book to his colleague one day, the situation escalated dramatically: Sergei stabbed him, inflicting life-threatening injuries. What initially seems like a bizarre anecdote about spoilers and book disputes unfolds into a complex narrative about the limits of psychological resilience in extreme isolation.
Antarctica is considered a stateless “no man’s land” and is one of the last virtually untouched regions on Earth. Its unique role as a site of international research and cooperation is simultaneously caught in the crossfire of new geopolitical interests. In this fragile balance, Antarctica is not only an ecologically sensitive, but also a politically charged, almost utopian place.
Following the trail of this extraordinary crime, director Jan-Christoph Gockel, known for the acclaimed theater marathon "Hospital of the Ghosts" at the Deutsches Theater, travels to Neumayer Station III in Antarctica in January 2026 together with documentary filmmaker Lion Bischof and actors Julia Gräfner and Wolfram Koch.
This expedition results in a surreal mockumentary theater piece, a blend of fiction and documentary film—a work in which the endless white landscape becomes not only a narrative space but also a mirror reflecting human abysses and longings.
- Directed by Jan-Christoph Gockel
- Set and Costume Design by Julia Kurzweg
- Documentary Film, Video, Camera by Lion Bischof
- Music by Anton Berman
- Lighting by Marco Scherle
- Dramaturgy by Daniel Richter
