MET's Past Productions: Death in Venice

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Death in Venice

(American Premiere)
Directed by and Starring Giles Havergal
An adaptation of the classic novella by Thomas Mann
by Robert David MacDonald from an original
translation by David Luke

Death in Venice has been selected by Time Out New York Theater Editor Jason Zinoman as one of his Ten Best in Theater of 2002.

Read about the production in The New York Times.

"MEMORABLE! Giles Havergal finds the full power of Mann's disquieting tale, and when he does, a chill runs through the room that will be with you long after you step outside!"
- The New York Times

"A STUNNING SHOW! A truly memorable theatrical event! Devastatingly powerful!"
- UPI

"BRILLIANT! GRIPPING! Superb! Marvelous! Intelligent! An exciting version, masterfully performed!"
- New York Post

"A POWERFUL PRODUCTION! Excitingly charged! Well-acted!"
- Time Out

"HAUNTING! Giles Havergal directs with a utilitarian simplicity that defers to the majesty of the words! Tells the tale better than you might read it!"
- Village Voice

"A GRIPPING PORTRAYAL! Havergal commands the stage from the moment he steps out! There's a sense of voluptuousness to this finely modulated piece!"
- Variety

"A MAGNIFICENT, MEMORABLE theatrical work, one rarely matched on or Off-Broadway! Or anywhere else, for that matter!"
- Jewish Post & Opinion

"COGENTLY ADAPTED, executed with care! There's an inexorability about the story, a gently rising tide that gradually engulfs the speaker!"
- Newark Star Ledger

"ENTHRALLING! FIRST-RATE! Terrific! The storyteller is at one and the same time in total command!"
- Theatermania

Nobel-prize winner Thomas Mann first published Death In Venice in 1912. The short work follows a middle-aged German aristocrat and scholar to Venice, where the passions hidden in his heart threaten to overwhelm his orderly life. Adapted by Robert David MacDonald and performed and directed by Giles Havergal, this stage version captures perfectly the masterpiece that contributed to Mann’s reputation as one of the most important writers of the 20th century.