WINTERGÄSTE 2026 - Szenische Lesung von Nicolai Gogol's "Der Mantel"

Akaki Akakjewitsch, a minor civil servant and copyist, works in a department in St. Petersburg. He loves his work at a standing desk, has become a living pen, so to speak, even has favorite letters and sometimes takes his copying home with him. He lives alone, a lonely life, and is only mocked by his work colleagues. It is cold, his old coat is worn through, the shady tailor insists relentlessly on a new one and so Akaki receives the new coat, his "mistress", after hardship and saving restrictions. He revives, his colleagues invite him to celebrate the occasion, but on his way home he is attacked in the dark and his coat is stolen. The next day, he turns to an "important personage", a general, with a recommendation to help recover the coat. But the general smugly rejects Akaki in a brusque tone; he is arrogantly rejected and put down. Desperate and bruised, Akaki runs home, falls ill and dies a few days later. But that's not the end of the story: a ghost is on the loose...!

The "Winter Guests" reading series brings renowned works, read by well-known actors and actresses, to the stages of the Regio Basiliensis. In 2026, texts from two centuries will be presented under the motto "When covers fall", in which various revelations happen, secrets are revealed and taboos are broken. "The Overcoat" by Nicolai Gogol was published in 1842 and is considered his best-known and most influential novella.

Read by: PETER SCHRÖDER
Realization: PETER SCHRÖDER