Kleist's Marquise of O., on stage.

„Die Marquise von O. und –“ is a theatre production at the Deutsches Theater based on Heinrich von Kleist's novella. It is directed by the Hungarian director Ildikó Gáspár, her first work at the Deutsches Theater, with an ensemble including Maren Eggert, Alexander Khuon, Almut Zilcher and Mathilda Switala. The play tells how the widowed Marquise is raped during a Russian assault on a northern Italian fortress, becomes pregnant without memory of the act, is cast out by her family and places a newspaper advertisement to find the father. Gáspár interweaves Kleist's story with three further cases „nach wahren Begebenheiten“ – Franca Viola, Erika Renner and Gisèle Pelicot – showing patterns of violence, silence and blame-shifting across three centuries, but also resistance, voice and change.