Europe Central

William T. Vollmann's novel — winner of the National Book Award 2005 — unfolds as a vast polyphony of voices. Listeners become spies, overhearing the subjective accounts of famous, infamous and anonymous individuals across the years 1906 to 1975. This timespan mirrors the life of Dmitri Shostakovich, whose music runs through the novel like an apocalyptic soundtrack. The result is a symphony of perspectives — a panoramic portrait of the twentieth century seen through the lens of its two great murderous totalitarian systems: Nazism and Stalinism.

Vollmann weaves years of meticulous historical research — drawn from biographies, diaries, letters and archival sources — with fictional and at times surreal moments, creating an atmosphere that is oppressive, almost uncanny. At its core, the novel examines the fundamental conditions of human existence under extremity.

Nicole Schneiderbauer brings this monumental, thousand-page work to its world premiere at Staatstheater Augsburg — translating its layered voices and moral complexity into a powerful piece of theatre.