The play takes place in the 16th century. Martin Luther, an excommunicated German clergyman, a great reformer of the Church, allows Roman Catholic nuns to leave the monastery and enter into marriage, which is also indirectly supposed to help him gain the support of influential figures of Germany at the time. Everything happens, of course, in secret and under the cover of darkness. However, news of the activities of Luther and his, somewhat sidekick Philip, who enters one marriage after another, spreads throughout Europe and reaches the concerned ears of Vatican priests and even the Pope himself. Moreover, news of Luther's other, more notorious and outrageous actions in Rome are spreading. Such as the famous 95 theses nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, or not using Latin during mass, which made the sermon unintelligible to the church goers, and the translation of the Bible into German.
The action of the play begins when Catherine von Bora escapes from the monastery with her two closest companions. As a child, the woman ended up in a convent for economic reasons – her father could not afford to support his already overly large family. After spending years behind the monastery's walls and having entered into a secret correspondence with Martin Luther, von Bora decides to leave the order. As it turns out, however, the young woman is not interested in marrying a random person. As she says: she has dedicated her life forever to God. On top of that, she can also read, write and even compose music, so she stands out from the other nuns and therefore immediately rejects the young and handsome (but not very intelligent) candidate chosen for her as a husband. When she finally ends up back at Wartburg Castle, she has a chance to finally get close to Martin Luther himself. However, the former monk, despite establishing a letter-writing religious, and emotional bond with her, is not immediately able to open up to her, much less ready to abandon his vows of chastity for her. Catherine, as a woman and a fugitive nun, does not have many options in the 16th century. She can confess to black magic and hang on the noose as a witch, or marry and give herself to a man.
Adrian Szafranski's Luther/von Bora is an insightful, well-written and intelligent reflection on religious dogma, as well as a poignant analysis of a time when a woman's only choice was marriage or a monastery. The author, who is himself a Lutheran, looks at the titular and all-too-recognized figures in Poland with extraordinary care. He portrays them both as great reformers of the Church and ordinary people who are familiar with anxiety, loneliness and the need for intimacy. In giving oneself to God, can one also give oneself to another person? As Martin Luther says to Catherine von Bora in the last scene of the play during a dinner together: “God is not man (...) God is love.”