In 1872 Trinity alumni Sheridan Le Fanu publishes his career-defining novella Carmilla; a text which will come to revolutionize the way that we understand Gothic literature, female vampirism and queerness. 150 years later, its stage adaptation can be found on the doorstep of the “Romanischen Keller”, the home of one of Germany’s oldest English-speaking theatre groups.
The city of Heidelberg (also known as the city of romanticism), with its cobblestone streets and looming castle, becomes fertile ground for the exploration of moral ambiguity and supernatural manifestations. First time-director of the show, Akshara Madhavan, makes it abundantly clear that city is to become backdrop of the production; the group’s instagram page is filled with anticipatory short clips of the cast wandering through the castle ruins, the university library, graveyards and darkened forest. It is exactly this emphasis on atmosphere and experience that takes the production from great theatre to a profound, transformational event. The tone of the show is tailored to perfection — the audience is requested to wear their most “gothic” attire, and this is delivered on, with some members of the public cloaked in black robes and top-hats. Our tickets were scanned by a crew-member in costume and we were then led downstairs to an intimate foyer dowsed in red lighting. On the right side of the wall stood a bar, serving the signature cocktail “Vampire’s Kiss”; a deep blood red concoction containing lillet, cherry liqueur and Schweppes, a mixture invented in-house by the cast and crew. By eight-o’clock the doors to the cellar were opened and we were led to a darkened intimate theatre, surrounded by exposed cobblestone walls and lit by candlelight. Before long, the actors burst through side doors and the show began.
Carmilla opens with two research assistants to Dr Martin Hesselius and their investigation into a series of mysterious events that occur in the forests of Styria. Their search leads them to the tale of an Austrian castle, inhabited by the Fontaine family, and describes a sequence of events that occur after a carriage accident that brings a stranger from a far-off land to their doorstep. Laura Fontaine and the new arrival, Carmilla, embark on an intimate and near-obsessive relationship. As their tie grows in intensity, Laura’s health begins to decline and peculiar events start to take place resulting in the question of whether or not the new arrival had anything to do with it.
Madhavan takes David Macdowell’s established script and transforms it into a tool that challenges the degree to which immersion is possible within theatre. This was primarily achieved by the ceaseless alternation between immersion and withdrawal from the performance. The tale was framed by the narrative of the two assistants, and they remained on the stage for the remainder of the production. Even when shrouded in darkness, their presence demanded an acknowledgement of narrative distance. This distance is further exemplified by the captivating use of sound and voiceovers; for instance, when a character read out-loud from a letter, the voice of the writer would resound around the theatre. The soundscapes for the dream-sequences were similarly executed to this effect, creating a surreal space in which we are at a double-remove: from Laura’s cognitive perception and the story itself.
However, this is starkly juxtaposed by the set design, the costumes, and the quality of the acting. Apart from a few props the stage remained bare, effectively creating a blank canvas; a canvas that allowed for the chemistry of the two main characters (Helen Gierhake as Laura Fontaine and Alex Hübner as Carmilla) to paint a meticulous portrait of queerness, lust, and female hauntings. This becomes especially apparent during ardent dance scenes where the witty dialogue and hypnotic movement mesmerises, to the point that the entire theatre could be felt holding its breath. It was in these moments that one had the impression that there was nothing beyond the play.
It’s rare for a production of this size to be able to control these two opposing aspects without one overshadowing the other. It is a balancing act that ultimately creates that sense of uncanniness that gothic literature prides itself on; the boundary between real and unreal is repeatedly challenged and distorted, leaving a viewer in a perpetual state of suspense. All aspects of the performance unchained the curated atmosphere from the boundaries of the stage and sent it seeping through the audience, demanding full emotional sacrifice. One left the theatre feeling artistically inspired and ready to take on creative feats.
The Schauspielgruppe of the Anglistisches Seminar produce and perform at least one play each semester. It is also here in this small town in the west of Germany where Irish theatre seems to thrive among the works of Shakespeare, Moliére, and Euripides. Irish theatre runs rampant in 2025 and 2026, with Martin Mcdonagh’s play The Pillowman being staged earlier this year, Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla currently making its run, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest set to come to life in June and July 2026.
Since 2006, the group has been chaired by Dr Kirsten Hertel, a professor in English literature, who often teaches a “Writing for the Stage” class and enables students to write and produce their own plays. In 2016, she organised the first UNESCO Cities of Literature Short Play Festival, a festival in which 23 new plays were produced by students from Dublin, Heidelberg, Dunedin, Iowa City and Norwich.
Dr Hertel stressed the importance of students in the department having the opportunity to perform English language theatre: “Usually, they only have the academic perspective, but the chance to see the performative aspect of texts is very useful for them”. When asked about the surprising number of Irish plays that have been chosen over the year, she stated that it was merely coincidence and the students offered the ideas up themselves. She specifically mentions Mcdonagh’s The Pillowman and recounts how the director “was fascinated by this play, he absolutely wanted to put it on here. I think it’s the personal appeal that plays have on directors”.
It cannot be denied that Irish writing has inspired, and held the attention of both new and established directors worldwide. This, however, is found rather in the Irish theatre tradition’s universality rather than in any inherent “Irish” virtues. When asked if “Irishness” played a role in the Carmilla, Dr Hertel replied: “I only see the gothic context. Sheridan Le Fanu could’ve been an Austrian writer, an English writer; it didn’t seem so Irish to me, like a play by Yeats or O’Casey would”. Her statement highlights the merit of Irish texts: their ability to be independent from an occasionally stifling literary tradition and to exist outside of an Irish lens allows for often swept-aside critical themes, ideas and experimentation to come to the fore, and for Irish theatre to shine in all of its glory.
Heidelberg has a large society of English speakers because of both the University, and the wide array of job-offerings that are found here. Dr Hertel mentions that “nowadays we get people from different departments: from medicine, from law, from physics… there are people who don’t belong to the university and there are ex-students who still direct or act”. Evidently, the Schauspielgruppe represents a space for cultural exchange and meaningful discourse, a discourse that may come to teach us something about our own national theatre and presents new possibilities for how we may approach it in the future.
You can learn more about the theatre group at their instagram @ssg_heidelberg and we look forward to their upcoming performance of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.
