Antú Romero Nunes directs ‘Merlin’ at Vienna’s Akademietheater

The new Burgtheater season begins in Vienna with a production of Tankred Dorst’s ‘Merlin oder Das wüste Land’ at the Akademietheater. Directed by Antú Romero Nunes, the production offers a condensed version of the 1981 play, which explores the Arthurian legend through a lens of poetic existentialism.

Nunes, who previously staged the work in Hamburg in 2011, noted that his current approach focuses on the ‘fall of the left’ and provides a more intimate, figurative staging compared to his previous production. The director aims to avoid making the piece a tragedy, instead treating it as a form of ‘children’s theater for adults’ that navigates a labyrinthine narrative.