by Joseph Roth
"This hotel is like the world. It exudes splendor and glamour on the outside, but inside
lives in poverty."
Hotel Savoy - a splendor from a bygone era, a mystery, a place where the most diverse people, dazzling personalities and dubious figures have found a home. In the turmoil between two wars, they struggle for a place in the world, for their future, for a foothold, for survival. Gabriel Dan is also stranded here. After three years as a prisoner of war in Siberia, the penniless soldier moves into cheap accommodation on the penultimate of the seven floors, which are organized according to the wealth of their inhabitants. From here, he wants to move further west. But he quickly falls for the mysterious and seemingly impenetrable attraction of the hotel, where the shady elevator boy Ignatz seizes the suitcases of guests who are unable to pay - and thus binds them to the hotel. When Gabriel meets Stasia, a vaudeville dancer from the top floor, he decides to rescue her and himself from their loneliness.
Joseph Roth's expressionist novel from 1924 captivates readers with its evocative effect, drawing them into the magical world of the hotel. And 100 years later, it is still possible to trace a time of upheaval and "in-between-ness". In his second work in Schwerin, director and set designer Jakob Weiss adapts Joseph Roth's novel for the stage of the Großes Haus.
