William Shakespeare’s works have featured in the top ten dramatic works performed in Germany for years. But what's new is that this year, there's not a single comedy, but rather an increase in the number of the bloodiest tragedies. We went to see Karin Beier's “King Lear" in Cologne and Cornelia Rainer doing "Richard II" in Hamburg. The young Swiss director, recently awarded the Faust theater prize, played all the female roles, turning the work into "Solo eines Königs", or a king's solo. Both of them know that Shakespeare's material suits our own times perfectly. The plays are about people looking for direction, the search for honesty and truth, and life and death.