Amphitheater | Narrative Theatre

Peter Trabner

„The Circle of Nature“

“The Death of Empedocles” by Friedrich Hölderlin is considered unplayable. Peter Trabner, however, accepts this challenge. He turns it into a both comical and disturbing play about the state of the world – and about how we deal with it, about the relationship between man and nature. Peter Trabner stands alone – with only an olive tree at his side as a playing partner, friend and symbol of nature at the same time, demonstrating his talent for improvisation. The story of Empedocles, who according to legend threw himself into Mount Etna, is the starting point for a production that in its form is somewhere between street theater, performance art and drama experiment. And the audience plays along, making the play at times poetic, at times absurd, then funny and at the next moment shocking. This is how “The Circle of Nature” changes every evening from July 17 to 20 at the Tollwood Summer Festival.

“For me, courage means something like freedom, overcoming certain fears, taking on tasks that could perhaps become an adventure.” – Peter Trabner