The Chaincourt Theatre Company has adapted Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The premiere will take place on January 26 in the IG Farben annex.
Book burnings, people glued to their TV screens, an authoritarian regime and a war that is drawing ever closer. Seventy years after making its debut, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 could not be more topical. The Chaincourt Theatre Company at Goethe University Frankfurt has adapted the classic novel for the stage.
Books are forbidden. The world is a better place if everyone thinks the same – that is the conviction of Firefighter Guy Montag, who in Bradbury’s dystopian world burns books for a living, and does so with great pleasure. But a disastrous assignment in the house of a mysterious librarian raises initial doubts in the man, who is grappling not only with his apathetic wife Mildred and a failing marriage, but also with the everyday horror of the job, which his colleagues don’t even seem to notice. Encounters with mavericks and book lovers of all kinds lead Montag down the path of revolution and teach him not only about the brutality of the system, but also about the beauty of the world and the love of books.
In what is probably its biggest production since the pandemic, the Chaincourt Theatre Company has set itself the task of bringing current issues onto the stage. The novel has been adapted by James Fisk, a lecturer in English and American Studies, who has run the Chaincourt Theatre Company since the 1950s and also directs the play. In addition to two familiar faces, this production also features many new actors who, just like those working behind the stage, are all Goethe University students. The play will be performed in English on the stage in the I.G.-Farben-annex.
Performances: Premiere on January 26, 2024; additional performances on January 27 and February 1, 2 and 3, 2024; performances starts at 7.30 pm, Goethe University Frankfurt, Westend Campus, IG-Farben annex, Room NG 1.741
Tickets: €10/€5 (reduced price) available at the box office one hour before the start of the performance
Contact: James Fisk, Artistic Director Chaincourt Theatre Company, Institute for English and American Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt. fisk@em.uni-frankfurt.de
