When the boy enters the library, he has no idea that his steps will take him into an eerie realm. Well, I'm looking for a book, said the boy. A choleric old man takes him through a sprawling labyrinth of cellars into a pitch-black hole labeled: Reading Room. Here, in the captivity of exclusive darkness, the boy encounters his deepest fears.
But not with bread and water: three times a day, the most delicious meals are served by a gentle sheep-man and a mute girl. The two not only bring tons of donuts, but also comfort and love.

The wondrous story of loss and loneliness, of first love and liberation seems like the source from which the many great novels of the Japanese master Haruki Murakami are fed. The novella has now been adapted for the stage for the first time by Jacqueline Kornmüller.