Kohlhaas

‘If a man can break the circle of the world for just two horses, then it means that that circle can be broken at any moment...’

The first ever Brighton Festival Production, and a world premiere, Kohlhaas has been developed specifically for the refurbished Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. A bold adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s novella Michael Kohlhaas, it asks what happens when justice fails, and one man refuses to let it go?

Performed by the critically acclaimed Arinzé Kene (Misty, Girl From The North Country, Get Up Stand Up), Kohlhaas tells the story of a 16th century German horse dealer who seeks redress after a local Baron tricks him out of his two most beautiful horses.  

When met with corruption and indifference, a principled demand for fairness spirals into an uncompromising quest for justice, with violent and far-reaching consequences.  

Translated and directed by Omar Elerian (Misty, The Chairs, Rhinoceros), and adapted by the pioneering Italian playwrights, Marco Baliani and Remo Rostagno, Kohlhaas reunites Elerian and Kene in their first one-man show since the Olivier-Award nominated Misty.

Urgent, unsettling and fiercely contemporary, Kohlhaas is an atmospheric, brooding journey into the psychology of protest and resistance, asking what does justice really look like when systems are broken, and rights are denied – and how far is too far?

‘Kleist’s tale about the consequences of injustice will never not be relevant and is so thrilling that once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop for anything. Stunning’ - Ali Smith (The Guardian, Dec 2025)