At times when the outlook is bleak, vampire stories are in high demand. Indeed, there is no people in the world that does not have stories of the living dead, of bloodsuckers and bloodless bodies. With Vampire’s Mountain, the artist, scenographer and director Philippe Quesne uses this myth to tackle an urgent issue: the relationship between humans and nature, that of rule and exploitation. Quesne is a master of bizarre and fantastical pictorial theatre and one of the most successful European theatre-makers. With his most recent piece, he creates a panorama of our time that is both melancholy and hilarious. Quesne’s eccentricity meets acting excellence in the face of the end of the world. Prepare for theatrical mist, long teeth and howling when the temporary community of vampires emerges from the ground as the play begins: ‘Oh how cheating, oh how fleeting is our earthly being!’
Concept, Direction, Stage design, Costume design Philippe Quesne With Jean-Charles Dumay, Sachiko Hara, Sébastien Jacobs, Sasha Rau, Bettina Stucky, Samuel Weiss, Martin Zamorano Artistic collaboration stage design Elodie Dauguet Technical collaboration stage design François Boulet Collaboration costume design Marie-Luise Otto Light design Annette ter Meulen Dramaturgy Judith Gerstenberg Assistance direction Jamie Trautmann Assistance stage design Patrick Coyne Assistance costume design Anna Michaelis Translation Corinna Popp Stage management Annette Endmann Internship costume Jule Köster Internship direction Adam Lusena Ash Technical direction Hajo Krause Production management Jens Schmidt Technical coordination Thilo Jeß Technical direction stage Mario Muranka Stage inspection Matthias Morys Technical stage managers Jens Krüger, Susanne Zimmer Stage machinery Holger Lehmann Lighting Tobias Bettin, Swaantje Hoffmann, Tim Stellwag Sound and video management Kai Altmann Sound Kai Altmann, Shorty Gerriets, Christian Jahncke Make up and hair management Susan Kutzner Make-up Wiltrud Jüchter, Julia Christine Christiani, Nicola Wüstefeld Costume management Geseke Brandis, Susanne Günther-Müller Wardrobe Pia Reifenrath-Sacher, Anne Scheerer Costume art Catja Schilling Props management Jörn Woisin Props Kerstin Feuerhelm, Pauline Heinrichs, Ibrahim Kurt, Jule Pischel Workshop management Thorsten Großer Project management construction Marcel Franken, Lennart Hohenschurz, Jan Sauer Painting workshop Raphael Schierling Decorations department Elisabeth Schultz Carpentry Johanna Nölker Locksmith Mattis Speck Sculptures Sabine Kanzler
Production Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg
World premiere October 2025, Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg
The performances in Vienna are supported by the Institut Français d'Autriche.
