About the production

Start

7:30 p.m.

End

9:30 p.m.

The legendary Polish-British author Joseph Conrad (»Heart of Darkness«) placed his Polish colleague Bolesław Prus (1847–1912) on a par with the eminent English novelist Charles Dickens. In Germany, at least, this did Prus little good: his 1,200-page work »The Doll« (1890) was barely noticed west of the Oder and Neisse rivers. In Poland, however, Bolesław Prus has long since secured his place in literary history. The monument erected in his honour on Warsaw’s Royal Route stands almost four metres tall. We are transported into the rich tapestry of the novel by the accomplished radio drama narrators Anna and Nellie Thalbach, who will take turns reading key passages from the novel in an interplay of their distinctive voices.

The Swiss publisher Kampa has put an end to the German ignorance regarding Prus with a resounding success, thanks to a highly acclaimed new translation of the work by Lisa Palmes and Lothar Quinkenstein, published in 2024. Their masterful translation offers a fresh discovery of the Polish answer to Leo Tolstoy’s »Anna Karenina«. Prus unfolds an infinitely rich social panorama of Warsaw at the turn of the 19th century, set against the backdrop of the rising middle class and the aristocracy, and delivers brilliant studies of social milieu.

Why this historical material seems so relevant (once again) today that, following several 20th-century film adaptations, »Die Puppe« is being given yet another Polish cinematic adaptation this year and Netflix is working on a series based on it, but also why »Lalka« (original title) is a literary masterpiece that continues to set standards to this day: Lisa Palmes and Lothar Quinkenstein will discuss this on the evening in the atmospheric Garden Hall of the Baroque Altdöbern Castle with Thoralf Czichon, literary dramaturg of the Lausitz Festival. The reading of selected passages immerses the listener in the novel’s rich tapestry of voices.

A collaboration between Friends of the Rohkunstbau Association and Lausitz Festival

Our tip:

Running concurrently with the event at Altdöbern Castle is the 31st Rohkunstbau exhibition, »Die Kunst des Überschreitens« (»The Art of Transgression«), curated by Christoph Tannert, featuring works by 16 contemporary artists. Since 2022, the exhibitions organised by Rohkunstbau – founded in 1994 – have been held at Altdöbern Castle.

As part of this collaboration, there is an opportunity to take part in an exclusive one-hour curator-led tour of the exhibition at 6 p.m. A limited number of combined tickets are available for this.

By bus & train to the event

Why don't you leave your car at home and come to the event by public transport? Click on the button to calculate your route. The destination is already pre-filled in the trip planner.

We owe this service for the Lausitz Festival to the transport associations VVO, VBB and ZVON.

Plan your trip

Return journey option: Travel together & protect the climat

As there is no direct bus connection for the return journey for this event, we invite you to form a carpool.

Use our free DIY Ridesharing App to connect with other festival guests. This way, you avoid the stress of parking, share travel costs, and jointly reduce CO2 emissions. Simply register, offer or search for a ride, and start your journey relaxed.

A heartfelt thank you to our cooperation partner Match Rider.

Bolesław Prus – author of »The Doll« I Image source: Wikipedia: Wilhelm Feldman (1868–1919) – National Library of Poland © public domain

31st Rohkunstbau exhibition »Die Kunst des Überschreitens« (»The Art of Transgression«) © Rohkunstbau

Reading

Anna Thalbach

Anna Thalbach, born in Berlin in 1973, made her feature film debut at the age of six in the German entry to the Cannes Film Festival, »Engel aus Eisen« (Iron Angel), directed by her stepfather Thomas Brasch. This was followed by over 200 film and television productions, as well as roles in several cinema films. She has received numerous awards for her acting, including the Max Ophüls Prize and the German Television Prize.

Reading

Nellie Thalbach

Nellie Thalbach, born in Berlin in 1995, finished school at a boarding school in Lower Saxony and then spent six months at sea. She made her theatre debut as Little Polly in »Die Dreigroschenoper« (The Threepenny Opera) at the Maxim Gorky Theatre back in 2002. She has appeared in numerous radio plays and audiobook productions.

Book Translation

Lisa Palmes

Lisa Palmes, born in Münster in 1975, has translated works by Wojciech Jagielski, Lidia Ostałowska, Filip Springer, Olga Tokarczuk and Joanna Bator, amongst others. She has received numerous awards for her work, most recently the Karl Dedecius Prize in 2017 and the Special Prize of the Giant Mountains Prize for Literature in 2019. In 2024, she was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Translation Prize.

Book Translation

Lothar Quinkenstein

Lothar Quinkenstein, born in Bayreuth in 1967, was a university lecturer from 1999 to 2024. He is a translator from Polish and a writer. Together with Lisa Palmes, he translated Olga Tokarczuk’s novel »Die Jakobsbücher« (2019 / The Books of Jacob). In 2017, he was awarded the Jabłonowski Prize. In the same year, he received the Spiegelungen Prize for poetry. In 2024, Quinkenstein was honoured with the Dedecius Prize.

Moderation

Thoralf Czichon

Thoralf Czichon, born in Berlin in 2002, lives and studies in Vienna. On his YouTube channel »LiteraturNews«, he discusses contemporary and classic literature. He has been curating the literature programme for the Lausitz Festival since 2026.