About the work
Vielen Dank für das Leben is a 2012 novel by Sibylle Berg, published by Hanser. Berg adapted the material for the stage herself and added song lyrics set to music by Beni Brachtel; the stage version, Toto oder Vielen Dank für das Leben, premiered at the Burgtheater Wien on 24 October 2024, directed by Ersan Mondtag.
Plot
Toto, an intersex foundling born in East Germany in 1966 in the novel, grows up in a neglectful foster family and drifts through a life spent between the Eastern Bloc and the West. Despite poverty, violence and rejection, the title character clings to an almost indestructible, naive goodwill.
Cultural significance
The novel is considered one of Sibylle Berg's sharpest social portraits, telling the story of German division and reunification through the eyes of a doubly marginalised character. The stage version renders the material as a dark musical fairy tale for the Burgtheater and was widely read by critics as a consistent continuation of Mondtag's visually striking directing style.