Amerika – Salzburger Landestheater

Aaron Röll, Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Gregor Schulz, Tina Eberhardt, Sarah Zaharanski, Georg Clementi, KS Britta Bayer © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Georg Clementi, Aaron Röll, KS Britta Bayer, Sarah Zaharanski, Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Tina Eberhardt, Georg Clementi, Aaron Röll, Gregor Schulz © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll, Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll, Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Gregor Schulz, Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Aaron Röll, Tina Eberhardt, KS Britta Bayer, Georg Clementi, Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Gregor Schulz, Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll, Sarah Zaharanski © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Aaron Röll © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

KS Britta Bayer, Tina Eberhardt, Christoph Wieschke, Georg Clementi, Aaron Röll, Sarah Zaharanski © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Tina Eberhardt, Christoph Wieschke, KS Britta Bayer, Georg Clementi, Sarah Zaharanski © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll, Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Christoph Wieschke, Aaron Röll, Gregor Schulz © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Gregor Schulz, Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

KS Britta Bayer, Gregor Schulz, Tina Eberhardt, Aaron Röll, Georg Clementi, Christoph Wieschke © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Georg Clementi, Gregor Schulz © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Sarah Zaharanski, Georg Clementi, Gregor Schulz, Aaron Röll, Tina Eberhardt © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Gregor Schulz © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Oben: Christoph Wieschke, Aaron Röll, Unten: Gregor Schulz, Tina Eberhardt © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Aaron Röll, Ensemble © SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Synopsis

Kafka calls Karl Roßmann, the protagonist of his first novel, a “modern David Copperfield”. Aged only 16, Karl is sent to America by his parents. Like many people before him, he is expected to build a new life for himself there. But this is no “rags to riches” story. On the contrary: Affected by his own naivety, unhappy circumstances and injustice, the boy falls into increasingly desperate situations. He is at the mercy of his surroundings, and all his efforts to take control of his destiny fail.

“America” is an emigrant’s story, and it is also the opposite of a coming-of-age novel: Somebody is pursuing his happiness in the New World and ends up a nobody. Kafka chronicles the social decline of his protagonist in absurd adventures and dissects the American dream in a humorous and sarcastic manner. He explores what it is like to be a stranger, to lose one’s world and to embark on an existential search as a displaced person in the modern world. In some ways, “America” constitutes an exception in Franz Kafka’s oeuvre. According to Max Brod, the author himself was convinced “that this novel is lighter and more hopeful” than anything else he had written. “America” was published posthumously in 1927 by Kafka’s friend Max Brod.

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was plagued by self-doubt throughout his life. This insecurity is also reflected in his texts, which often describe absurd, confusing or grotesque events. His style is considered unique and does not match the categories of any literary period or movement. Kurt Tucholsky wrote about Kafka’s great novel “America”, which he called “The Missing Person”, in his diaries: “This is the very rare case of someone who does not understand life and is actually quite right.”

Georg Schmiedleitner was a co-founder of the Phönix Theatre in Linz and served as its artistic director from 1989 to 1996. He has been working as a freelance director since 1996. His production of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” at the Theater Regensburg was nominated for the German theatre award “Der Faust” in 2022. He also staged “The Last Days of Mankind” at the Salzburg Festival in 2014.

Duration: 2 h 15 min / one intermission

We offer introductory talks 45 and 30 minutes ahead of each performance.

Note: Strobe-like lighting effects are used in the production.

Event tip: Panel discussion with the Salzburger Nachrichten on April 20, 2026.

Reviews

„Vor zwei von Hausfassaden inspirierten Wänden (Bühne: Stefan Brandtmayr), die sich in sich, aber auch mittels Drehbühne immer wieder verändern lassen, fügt das siebenköpfige Ensemble in turbulentem Spiel die Szenen aneinander: rasche Kostümwechsel, ungebremster Körpereinsatz, vor allem aber slapstickartige Beweglichkeit und Agilität lassen staunen.“

Salzburger Nachrichten

„‚Amerika‘ ist ein funkelndes Worttheater, das sich, angetrieben von einem spielsüchtigen Ensemble in wechselnden Rollen mutig ins Chaos lehnt und dabei lustvoll im schaurig-schönen Kostümbild (Su Bühler) und Bühnenbild (Stefan Brandtmayr), Gefühlswelten zu präzisen Bildern macht.“

Reichenhaller Tagblatt

Performances