Polaris

What initially sounds like an unusual dispute over books and spoilers reveals a complex story about human limits in the endless expanse of Antarctica.

As a stateless “no man’s land,” Antarctica is one of humanity’s last shared spaces, still largely untouched by humans. Its undisturbed natural state offers exceptional conditions for scientific research and international cooperation.

However, Antarctica has become fragile in a new era of imperialism. Therefore, it is a special, utopian place not only ecologically but also politically.

In January 2026, director Jan-Christoph Gockel—who most recently staged the acclaimed theater marathon *Hospital der Geister* at the DT—will travel to Neumayer Station III in Antarctica with documentary filmmaker Lion Bischof and actors Julia Gräfner and Wolfram Koch, following the trail of a crime in this unique landscape.

The journey culminates in a surreal mockumentary play that straddles the line between fiction and documentary film, in which the white landscape of Antarctica becomes not only a map for storytelling but also a mirror of the human soul.

• A co-production of the Deutsches Theater Berlin with the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen and the Théâtre National du Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute, sponsored by the DT Freundeskreis, and with the kind support of the Goethe-Institut.