The Count of Monte Cristo - a cloak and dagger drama full of fencing matches and futile longings, full of revenge and love betrayals has been running for 3 months in the small Parisian suburban cinema. And the shy ticket-taker Valert sits in the front row every night, dreaming of one day being able to fight for the honour of his beloved Mercedes with his sword. But then, one night, the unbelievable happens: his beloved Mercedes suddenly looks down at him, up on the screen, and confesses her love, which understandably irritates Edmond Dantes a little in the film.
Valert gathers all his courage and rushes into the screen. There he suddenly finds himself in the middle of the Cinemascope movie with all its villains, battles and intrigue and gets to embrace his beloved Mercedes. The actor of Edmond Dantes, Hollywood star Stacey Fairbanks, drops by the movie theater and is highly indignant that a little ticket stubber dares to take his part. He follows him into the screen after him as well, and has the hapless Valert thrown into the dungeon. And so the story of the vengeful count unfolds in a completely different way for once, Valert has to fight for the love of his Mercedes as well as for more close-ups, has to find his way in the world of film, where every kiss is immediately followed by the fade-out, until he finally has to decide between cinema and reality.
In a madcap mix of feature film and theatre, this never-before-seen adventure about appearance and reality unfolds. Feature film sequences combine with live theatre to create a madcap confusion about the futility of desires, with appearances and false bottoms, full of wit and melancholy.
Text source and further information can be found at: http://www.diedramatischebuehne.de/programm/
