Tabori il saggio. Quel che resta di Lessing

Abstract

The paper discusses Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s relevance in Tabori’s theatre, focusing mainly on Nathan the Wise and The Jews. Tabori’s rewriting and staging of Lessing’s most famous drama (Nathans Tod. Nach Lessing, 1991) and the late production of the juvenile comedy (Die Juden, 2003) are read as fierce interventions in enfeebled post-Auschwitz debates in late 20th century. The essay contends that the double meaning of nach (after) can be considered as the key to understand how Tabori conceived his productively estranging role as a “foreigner” and a “wise old man” in contemporary German theatre.