Ben Becker sees religious topics as existential

In his own words, the actor Ben Becker considers religious topics to be very existential. “I find the examination of the search for the connection between spiritual and secular thoughts particularly special,” said the artist to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Friday). For example, he has already worked on the Bible with his band or lived in a monastery for three weeks. He likes to invite people to engage with such literature. “I seriously have something to share and in my own way. That gave me and hopefully my audience great joy.”

Becker is currently on tour with his literary tour performance “Death Duel”. The focus is on a sermon by the English clergyman and poet John Donne (1572–1631). According to Becker, it is his own funeral sermon. “Knowing full well that he’s going away.”

He was dead three weeks after this sermon.” Donne had previously had himself painted smiling in a body bag. It is very extraordinary that someone with this conscientious sense of humor and such life-affirming attitude towards sharing that his time here will soon be over. “strongly progressive thoughts that he had and allowed himself to share”.

“Don’t be afraid of dying”

Becker, who will soon be 60, admitted that death is definitely more of an issue for him now than it was in his mid-twenties. After all, he has already lost one or two people.

“I’m not afraid of dying, I actually want to experience it. But hopefully I still have a lot of time until then. I still have many stories to tell, something else to say, except that we all have to go at some point.”

The artist was convinced that one could always learn from stories, from time and from people who dealt with existential questions. “In order to orientate ourselves, we have to repeatedly research the past and ask ourselves: What was there?” Donne was moved by the big themes of how life comes into being, how life passes and how people deal with it. He finds his engagement with spiritual and secular philosophy very courageous. “Death Duel” is a dialectical examination of the beauty of creation. “My goal is to convey this beauty,” says Becker.