Homo faber

Max Frisch

Adapted for the stage by Susanne Frieling

Premiere: October 4, 2025 / Salzburg State Theatre

Synopsis

Engineer Walter Faber a.k.a. “Homo faber” (“man the maker”) is an analytical thinker, a mathematician who views the world through facts and clear structures and does not believe in coincidences. Suddenly, this sober protagonist is sucked into a vortex of fateful events. On a ship crossing over to Europe from New York, Faber falls in love with Sabeth, who is much younger than him. A cheerful travel companion, she reminds him of Hanna, his first true love. For Sabeth, their journey will also bring a fateful encounter with her own identity.

In his novel published in 1957, which was to become a bestseller, Max Frisch blends autobiographical elements with the central themes of his work: the conflict between someone’s personal identity and their role in society, the impact of coincidence or fate on our existence, the failed relationship between the sexes as well as life stories gone astray. The author’s focus is on the opposition between technology on the one hand and nature and myths on the other.

Max Frisch’s work serves as an important pillar of the Salzburg State Theatre’s season programme. For its new staging at the Salzburg State Theatre, director Susanne Frieling will adapt the work for the stage, examining Frisch’s epic text from a female perspective and with a view to our belief in the power of the rational.

Max Frisch (1911–1991) captured a wide audience with his stage plays, such as “The Fire Raisers” or “Andorra”, as well as with his three big novels “I’m Not Stiller”, “Homo faber” and “Gantenbein”, thereby making his way into the canon of literature taught at school. His oeuvre centres on self-exploration, and many of the problems that arise in this context can be seen as typical of postmodern human individuals, especially with regard to the construction of their own biographies.

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