The McNeal Case - Burgtheater Vienna

German-language premiere

German translation by Daniel Kehlmann

Jacob McNeal, a successful yet narcissistic writer, finds himself more than ever confronted with the influence of AI on his writing, his own physical decline, and his familial past. His latest book is almost entirely based on a manuscript by his deceased wife, and he has also incorporated his son's private experiences without his consent. This son now threatens to publicly destroy McNeal's career.

Ayad Akhtar's play, translated into German by Daniel Kehlmann, is a complex portrait of a privileged, eccentric artist over 50. Akhtar questions the profession of writing itself as well as the power structures between the genders and speculates on how AI will change us.

Director: Jan Bosse
Stage design: Stéphane Laimé
Costumes: Kathrin Plath
Music: Arno Kraehahn
Video: Andreas Deinert
Lighting: Reinhard Traub
Dramaturgy: Christina Schlögl

Cast:
Joachim Meyerhoff - Jacob McNeal
Zeynep Buyraç - Sahra Grewal, McNeal's doctor / Francine Blake, former editor at the New York Times
Dorothee Hartinger - Stephanie Banic, McNeal's agent
Felix Kammerer - Harlan McNeal, McNeal's son / Banic's assistant
Safira Robens - Natasha Brathwaite, a reporter at the New York Times