The Heart-Eater at TamS: Black Theater Art in Munich


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Black Comedy, Love Wound, and Stage Crime at TamS
With The Heart-Eater, the TamS Theater in Munich presents one of Ferdinand Schmalz’s most distinctive works on April 23, 2026. The evening combines crime grotesque, linguistic art, and bitter humor into a stage experience that reflects the present through a historical myth. The production runs at TamS in Schwabing and is designed as a precisely arranged ensemble theater. ([tamstheater.de](https://tamstheater.de/?utm_source=openai))
A Myth that Cuts into the Present
The source material revolves around the dark figure of the Styrian heart-eater Paul Reininger, who became the stuff of legends in the 18th century. Ferdinand Schmalz relocates the story to a rural small town of the current era, where a shopping center built on swampy ground becomes a symbol of economic promise and moral uncertainty. It is precisely from this tension that the play derives its power: love, capitalism, superstition, and violence interlock like gears in a defective machine. ([theater-kr-mg.de](https://theater-kr-mg.de/spielplan/der-herzerlfresser/))
Language as a Sharp Instrument of Dramaturgy
Ferdinand Schmalz, born in 1985 in Graz, was named Emerging Playwright of the Year in 2014 and received the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2017 as well as the Nestroy Theater Prize in 2018. His dramaturgy employs an elevated, artificially fractured everyday language that not only allows characters to speak but to be unmasked. From this arises the blend of philosophical density, comic exuberance, and social friction for which his plays are known. ([theater-kr-mg.de](https://theater-kr-mg.de/spielplan/der-herzerlfresser/))
TamS Focuses on Ensemble, Rhythm, and Concentration
The TamS production by Susi Weber brings together Irene Rovan, Lena Vogt, Helmut Dauner, Julian Mantaj, and Axel Röhrle on stage. The theater itself describes the evening as a premiere on April 19, 2026, at 8 PM; the Munich date on April 23, 2026, thus falls right in the midst of the early performance phase. For the audience, this creates a compact theater evening that relies on intensification, ensemble presence, and precisely executed tension. ([tamstheater.de](https://tamstheater.de/?utm_source=openai))
Atmosphere Between Backyard Theater and Big City Curiosity
The TamS at Haimhauserstraße 13a is one of Munich's long-established experimental stages and is known for its literary and political profile. Its location in Schwabing, the proximity to Münchner Freiheit, and the scarce parking options shape the theater visit just as much as the intimate theater atmosphere in the venue. Those who sit here do not experience a distant viewing but immediate closeness to the audience. ([tamstheater.de](https://tamstheater.de/das-tams?utm_source=openai))
Why This Theater Evening Sparks Curiosity
The Heart-Eater promises not a pleasant evening of comfort, but a sharply observed play about desire, power, and repression. The material has repeatedly impressed theater critics as a pitch-black crime grotesque and linguistically witty radical comedy; at the same time, reviews praised the ensemble's enthusiasm and the intellectual alertness of the productions. Those searching for contemporary theater with wit, weight, and literary depth will find an evening with reverberation here. ([theater-kr-mg.de](https://theater-kr-mg.de/spielplan/der-herzerlfresser/))
Conclusion: At TamS, Ferdinand Schmalz’s linguistically powerful stage poetry meets a subject full of dark comedy and social friction. This theater evening demands attention, rewards with images, rhythm, and intellectual tension, and invites one to experience The Heart-Eater live. ([theater-kr-mg.de](https://theater-kr-mg.de/spielplan/der-herzerlfresser/))
Official Channels of TamS Theater:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamstheater/
- Facebook: No official profile found
- YouTube: No official profile found
- Website: https://tamstheater.de/
Sources:
- TamS Theater - official website
- TamS Theater - Contact and Directions
- TamS Theater - Tickets and Admission Prices
- München Ticket - Event page The Heart-Eater
- Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach - Play info and critic quote
- Mülheimer Theatertage - Play description
- Der Standard - Review of The Heart-Eater
- Die Presse - Review and Classification










