With Der blinde Passagier (The Stowaway), the Landestheater Niederösterreich brings a powerful rediscovery of Viennese Modernism to the stage. Maria Lazar's suspenseful parable about moral courage and responsibility combines crime drama with moral tension and poses the timeless question of how much courage humanity requires.
Winter 1938. A Danish parcel boat lies in a German harbor in thick fog. As the ship is about to set sail, Carl, the captain's son, discovers a man in the icy water. He rescues him and hides the stranger in the cargo hold. But the stowaway does not remain undiscovered for long, and soon the entire crew is faced with a decision that threatens their own lives.
The rescued man is a Jewish doctor fleeing from the Nazis. His discovery causes the initial solidarity to give way to fear, mistrust, and open conflict. What begins as a crime story develops into an oppressive socio-political drama that pits individual moral values against collective responsibility. The question of how far people are willing to go to save another life is brought to an existential head in a confined space.
Maria Lazar's text is remarkably topical. With a precise eye, she describes mechanisms of conformity, fear, and herd mentality—and contrasts them with the possibility of moral courage and humanity. The Austrian premiere, directed by Mira Stadler, puts this long-overlooked author in the spotlight and allows her work to be experienced anew as a powerful warning and humanistic plea.
Premiere March 13,
Further performances: March 21 and 27, April 8, 9, and 11, May 21 and 22, 2026
