When someone’s behavior defies the rules you know, how do you engage with them? When you struggle in vain to understand their motives, do you begin to question your own?
In 1853, American writer Herman Melville created this unsettling dynamic in his novel Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, crafting a relationship both bizarre and strikingly real.
Time and space intertwine on the stage: the Wall Street of the late 19th century, Shanghai in the early 1930s—known then as the “Wall Street of the East”—and today’s global financial hub coexist and overlap. Within a minimalist yet distinctive set enhanced by projection art, actors WANG Chuanjun and Sulide will guide the audience through narrative and performance, portraying the tension between individuals and their environments, and the miscommunication that arises when people try and fail to connect.
Original Author: Herman Melville (USA) - adapted from his famous short story
Presenter & Producer: Vertebra Theatre
Director: Boris von Poser (Germany)
Set Designer: Timo von Krickstein (Germany)
Lead Cast
WANG Chuanjun, Sulide Puribu
On the Wall Street of the late 19th century, the owner of a law firm hires a young man named Bartleby to copy documents for him. When he has just appeared, Bartleby appears reticent and hardworking, seems the ideal employee—until his peculiarities emerge. He never initiates conversation, responds only in brief replies, and refuses to leave the office, remaining instead behind the small screen that separates his corner from the rest of the room. In an era before printers, Bartleby functions like a human copier, silently producing page after page of transcribed documents—an ascetic presence wholly detached from the clamor of Wall Street.
This unassuming scrivener profoundly unsettles his employer. Beyond his copying duties, Bartleby respond to every additionally request with the same quiet refrain: “I would prefer not to.”
He would prefer not to proofread.
He would prefer not to run errands.
He would prefer not to collect the mail.
Gradually, he would prefer not to copy anymore—would prefer not to do anything at all.
Even after being fired, he would prefer not to leave.
Inside the dimly lit law office, there are no clear rights or wrongs—only miscommunication and dislocation, revealing the struggle between individuals and the worlds they inhabit.
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