SCHILLER'S ROBBER

With the premiere of *The Robbers* in 1782—in which he explores the self-destruction of a family—Schiller caused a sensation.

A contemporary witness reported: “The theater resembled a madhouse—rolling eyes, clenched fists, hoarse cries from the audience. Strangers fell into each other’s arms, sobbing.” Schiller was threatened with imprisonment in a fortress and was forced to flee.

A quarter of a millennium later, two actors, drawing on their own family histories, retell this story of security, love, selfishness, and freedom—a tale from Germany at a time when Germany did not yet exist.

• How much explosive power does this once-explosive material still hold today?
• How has our world changed since *The Robbers* was written?
• What changes when the last name shifts from “von Moor” to “von Deutschland”?
• Is a character like Amalia still believable today, and if so, could she be played by two men?