Professor Bernhardi (2016)

Thomas Ostermeier, artistic director of Berlin's Schaubühne, is known for radically reimagining classic plays. His new production of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1912 drama is a notable exception: it’s deliberately understated. Hartmann's calm demeanor sets the tone. The minimalist set is just a white box with location and description notes for each act—like "photographs on the walls" literally written on the wall—and the story is treated as an administrative matter, not a political or moral one.