By staging Schlachten! in Germany - an adaptation of Shakespeare's War of the Roses- Luk Perceval was looking for the workings of power and dominion and their dubious legitimations. Four hundred years after Shakespeare the audience gets a similar sort of contemporary and political theatrical production with language as the thread. This was the beginning of the production's international triumphal march…

Premiere: 25/07/99 – Salzburger Festspiele '99

Schauspielhaus Hamburg in co-production with Salzburger Festspiele '99

SCHLACHTEN! is the German version of Ten Oorlog

cast: wolf bachofner, jytte böhrnsen, maarion breckwoldt, haluka chimoto, anna duhm, rene dumont, gundi ellert, bernd grawert, andreas grothgar, max hopp, nina kunzendorf, oliver masucci, wolfgang pregler, roland renner, thomas thieme, oda thormeyer
tex : tom lanoye
adaptation: tom lanoye, luk perceval
translators: rainer kersten and klaus reichert
direction: luk perceval
dramaturgy: hans van dam, luc joosten, wilfried schulz
scenography:katrin brack
costumes: ilse vandenbussche
light design: enrico bagnoli
music: fred van hove

SCHLACHTEN! was selected for the Theatretreffen- festival in Berlin 2000. On the Theatretreffen Luk Perceval and Tom Lanoye receive the Innovationspreis. SCHLACHTEN! is voted by 39 German theatre reviewers the BEST PLAY OF THE YEAR 2000, a prize rewarded annually by Theatre Heute. Thomas Thieme was elected as "Schauspieler des Jahres 2000" for his part as Dirty Rich Modderfokker.

"In Austria the opening performances were turbulent; we were praised as well as radically rejected. Haider made it clear that in his view Schlachten! should be removed from the Salzburger Festspiele's play bill. The prohibition for youngsters to go and see Schlachten! was spurred on by 200 teachers…."