In her book »Passion«, originally published in 2020 under the title »Soif« (Thirst), the Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb imagines herself as a young man spending the last night before his execution on Golgotha: Jesus of Nazareth. Alone in his cell, he reflects on the path that led him there and on everything that will follow.

In Nothomb’s fictional inner monologue, Jesus speaks of his miracles, great love, betrayal and his overwhelming thirst for dignity and forgiveness. »Jesus has never felt so close to me,« says actor Götz Schubert of his feelings after reading this book. The monologue preoccupied him so deeply – indeed, gripped him so completely – that he adapted the powerful text for the stage. Schubert, who has long been a favourite of the people of Lusatia in the role of Görlitz police inspector Burkhard ‘Butsch’ Schulz in the crime series »Wolfsland«, thrilled audiences at the Lausitz Festival in 2024 and 2025 with his portrayal of Iago in »Othello / Die Fremden«.

In a unique performance format at the village church in Cunewalde, Schubert brings Nothomb’s Jesus to life with impressive vocal delivery and stage presence. Oboist and producer Manuel Munzlinger has created a soundtrack for the performance that combines electronic sounds with live oboe playing. The duo describe the evening as a MusicalRadioPlay, as it inextricably weaves together music, text and drama to form a multi-layered total work of art. read less