The Deutsches Theater München presents a production by Festspielhaus Füssen and Manfred Hertlein Veranstaltungs GmbH

A BATTLE FOR FAITH AND LOVE

The hit musical Die Päpstin (Pope Joan), based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Donna W. Cross, returns to our stage after its huge success in April. With great songs penned by Dennis Martin, rousing choreography and opulent sets, a battle for faith and love is once again ignited. The story is told of Joan, who pretends to be a man and rises from simple monk to Pope.

THE STORY OF A REMARKABLE WOMAN

Johanna is born in 814 as the daughter of a village priest. The girl is exceptionally clever and secretly learns to read and write against her father’s wishes. By a chain of coincidences, Johanna is able to attend the convent school in Dorstadt, but as a young woman she is met with hostility from all sides. She is the only one to survive a cruel Norman attack and makes a lonely decision: she takes off her women’s clothes, cuts her hair and from then on pretends to be the monk Johannes Anglicus in the monastery of Fulda. After decades of hiding, her path leads to Rome, where powerful opponents spin their intrigues at the Pope’s court.

But Johanna continues on her path undeterred and rises to become the papal personal physician. But when the only man she has ever loved unexpectedly meets her in Rome, she must choose between the happiness of love and independence. The Pope dies and the Roman people elect Johanna as his successor. Now more than ever, she must keep her secret. Because if anyone finds out who she really is…

FROM BESTSELLER TO MUSICAL

The novel Pope Joan appeared in a German translation shortly after its publication in the USA in 1996. To date it has sold over five million copies in Germany alone. In 2004, it was ranked 10th in the category “Germans’ favourite books” in the ZDF programme “Unsere Besten”. In 2009, director Sönke Wortmann made a film of the material. Two years later, the musical celebrated its premiere in Fulda.

Trailer