reading & concert · tour from september 2027
DIE DEN HIMMEL NICHT SEHEN.
A reading party with a band!
Thomas Darchinger does not just read from his debut novel. It turns into a reading party with a band.
the evening
A literary and musical live evening: passages from the novel, interrupted by songs from a curated local favourite band, followed by a 45-minute concert.
Darchinger reads from his novel and talks about how it came to be, followed by a short discussion. In selected cities he is joined by a band, usually a young, up-and-coming band from the region. The band plays two songs during the reading and, after the discussion, a concert of about 45 minutes.
The goal is for the reading to end in a party.
- Readingpassages from the novel, with two songs by the band in between
- Behind the scenesDarchinger talks about how the novel came to be, followed by a short discussion
- Concertabout 45 minutes, usually with a young local band
- PartyThe goal is for the reading to end in a party.
about the novel
Sometimes the only thing that still holds you together is a lousy connection to someone you don't actually know. A person from the internet, and you don't even know whether he or she really looks the way they claim. Whether the person writing is even the person you think is writing. But never mind. They are there. Now.
In a car park in Bakhmut, for instance. On the phone of a Ukrainian soldier who is surrounded and under fire from all sides.
Or in the broom cupboard of the newsroom, where the young journalist Jasmin has fled after her boss groped her in the office kitchen.
We get to know the characters from different perspectives. Judge. Revise.
The episodic novel DIE DEN HIMMEL NICHT SEHEN (Those Who Cannot See the Sky) tells the stories of four protagonists who, trapped in their dilemmas and in their breathless longing for connection, search for redemption, get caught up in adventurous schemes and towards the end meet at a place that, as the last stop for the broken, holds a light at the end of the tunnel for one of them, but not for another.
The threads are woven together and lead inevitably to an infernal ending in which, one way or another, something triumphs that none of the main characters believed in any more: love.
voices on the novel
- „vielleicht eine der großen Entdeckungen des kommenden Literaturjahres“
- „wieder einmal hat auf ihn keiner gewartet , wie er selbst sagt. Das sei schon als Schauspieler so gewesen, zumindest wenn es nach seiner Mutter ging, oder auch als Regisseur am Theater, und natürlich auch jetzt wieder als Roman Autor. Aber Darchinger hat immer wieder gezeigt, dass er ein hoch veranlagtes Multitalent ist. Und so sind wir jedenfalls freudig gespannt auf sein Debüt als Roman-Autor!“
- „und wenn er das dann auch noch selbst liest, kann man davon ausgehen, dass es eine Veranstaltung ist, die sich unbedingt lohnt“
- „er hat ja schon als Theaterautor gezeigt, dass er ein starker Autor ist. Von daher darf man gespannt sein“
- „ein Lesung mit Darchinger ist immer ein Highlight. Und schreiben kann er auch, soviel steht fest“
- „Wir wollen den Stoff verfilmen“
Quoted in the original German.
the author
Thomas Darchinger is not the first actor to write a novel.
The all-rounder has appeared in front of the camera more than 150 times for film and television and is a member of the European Film Academy. The Süddeutsche Zeitung once called him „einer der Lieblingsbösewichte des deutschen Films“ (one of German cinema's favourite villains). He started acting in and directing theatre early on and has won awards there too (including “Talent of the Year”). He voices leading roles in dubbing for Netflix, Apple, Amazon and others, makes live radio plays that more than a quarter of a million (mostly young) people have seen so far, writes plays for his own theatre company, which tours all over the world, and now a novel as well.
Darchinger takes on material that is not autobiographical and therefore has nothing sensationally revealing to offer. Instead he captures our times in a „mitreißenden Episodenroman mit schillernden Protagonist*innen, denen man auf Schritt und Tritt folgen möchte.“ (a gripping episodic novel with dazzling protagonists you want to follow every step of the way).
voices on thomas darchinger
- „Darchinger gehört zur absoluten Oberklasse der deutschen Sprecher“
- „Sprache in höchster schauspielerischer Vollendung“
- „Einer der ganz Großen“
- „Ihn beim Lesen zu erleben ist ein göttlicher Genuss!“
- „Ein Meister der feinen Töne!“
- „Darchinger zieht die Zuhörer auf Anhieb in seinen Bann. Er versteht es, die verschiedenen Charaktere vor dem geistigen Auge entstehen zu lassen. Man merkt, warum Darchinger eine der bekanntesten und erfolgreichsten Erzähl- und Sprechstimmen dieses Landes ist. Er beherrscht seine Stimme wie ein fein abgestimmtes Werkzeug.“
- „Mit seiner Lesung von 'Das andere Leben' hat er bereits circa 250000 (!) Zuschauer*innen begeistert“
- „Manche nennen ihn schlicht 'the voice'. Das wird der Sache wohl gerecht.“
Quoted in the original German.
for organisers
We are happy to send organisers all the details by email.
Peggy Pohle, stage production management, Thomas Darchinger
management@thomasdarchinger.de