Dresden

In 1838, poverty-stricken and on the run from creditors, Richard Wagner writes his first successful opera, Rienzi, which is performed at the Dresden Opera House in October 1842. In 1907, a 19-year-old Adolf Hitler watches a performance of Rienzi, which becomes a powerful obsession for the young, serious Austrian. When Adolf’s fleeting attempts at opera fail dismally, he embarks on a new mission – “to save the German people” through political action. How do two men derive inspiration from the same source – one, which leads to an extraordinary act of creation – the other, a murderous act of destruction?

#StudioRep season