Wiebke Puls stands behind a bar with her arms crossed in front of her body. André Benndorff, Edmund Telgenkämper, Johanna Eiworth and Edith Saldanha sit in front of it and contort their faces.

Photo: Armin Smailovic Photo:

MK:

Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein

Musical ensemble piece about mothers and daughters
Adapted from the Novel by Sasha Marianna Salzmann

 Schauspielhaus

 Opening night: 30.9.2023

 approx. 3 hours 15 minutes(with intermission after 2h)

 With English surtitles

 Thu-Sat: 15-45€, Sun-Wed: 10-40€, under 30 years each seat category: 10€

 Schauspielhaus

 Opening night: 30.9.2023

 approx. 3 hours 15 minutes(with intermission after 2h)

 With English surtitles

 Thu-Sat: 15-45€, Sun-Wed: 10-40€, under 30 years each seat category: 10€

What happens when political systems disintegrate? — A stirring musical theater journey with our ensemble as a live band.

Sasha Marianna Salzmann writes about mothers, daughters and grandmothers during times of upheaval. Sometimes we are only able to grasp such events in hindsight – like the collapse of the Soviet Union and the hope-filled 1990s which many Eastern Europeans now call the “meat grinder days”.

The play takes us to the heart of the period of upheaval and beyond to ask whether we are experiencing another such turning point today. In Salzmann’s work, mothers and daughters are yoked together yet desperately avoid looking each other in the eye. They are unable to understand one another, they live in different worlds: in the Soviet empire, then in a system which is brutally falling apart and ultimately in the West. Lena’s spartan childhood takes place in the 1970s; in the 1990s, she becomes a doctor to try and save her chronically ill mother’s life. But by then, her mother has already died. Tatjana becomes a cashier in a liquor store, the only chance of survival in the uncertainty of the 1990s. Both women end up in Germany where their lives are supposed to start anew; inevitably, they become friends. By now, the two have given birth to daughters who grow up without knowing where they come from or what scars they bear.

Rich in empathy but without a hint of romanticising, Sasha Marianna Salzmann weaves together the stories of people whose biographies are shaped by periods of upheaval and tells of nostalgic lies and the struggle for new beginnings. Following Effingers, this is another epic production by Jan Bosse: a musical journey through time in the theatre with the ensemble playing as a live band.

The ensemble stands at a bar and toasts with champagne. Edith Saldanha turns away from the group.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Edith Saldanha is sitting at a table, a glass of beer, cigarettes and a lighter in front of her. Behind her are Wiebke Puls and Edmund Telgenkämper, each holding a telephone.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

On a small platform hanging from a ceiling by a pole, Maren Solty in dark clothing with a hood sits and clings. In the background, the rest of the ensemble sits at a bar.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Lisa-Katrina Mayer wears a white doctor's coat and spreads a pink paste on Martin Weigel's face.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Johanna Eiworth stands at a bar and joyfully draws her fist to her body. In the background, Wiebke Puls and Edmund Telgenkämper give each other a high five, and Carolina Bigge stands in between, playing a guitar.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Martin Weigel aims a dart at something behind the camera.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Edith Saldanha is wearing a shirt, trousers with suspenders and a tie, as well as a blond curly wig. Next to her is Wiebke Puls, holding a half-full bottle of champagne in one hand and gesturing with the other.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Svetlana Belesova and Wiebke Puls hug each other very closely and look into each other's eyes.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Edmund Telgenkämper is sitting alone at a table. On it are a candle, a plate with a gnawed chicken leg, and dried leaves spread on the table.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Wiebke Puls kneels in front of a chair and clings to the backrest. Her head is in the lap of the person sitting on the chair.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Andé Benndorff sits alone at the bar with a fixed gaze. In the background, Wiebke Puls and Carolina Bigge sit at a small table with a chessboard between them. Carolina Bigge holds an electric guitar in her hands.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Lisa-Katrina Mayer stands in the dark and screams. Her face is illuminated from below.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Lisa-Katrina Mayer wears a long, dark dress and stands in the fog with two full glasses in her hand. Behind her, Martin Weigel is sitting on a chair, also holding a full glass in his hand.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Edmund Telegenkämper is sitting at a table with a beer in front of him, next to him is André Benndorff with a glass of champagne in his hand. Svetlana Belesova smokes in the background.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Maren Solty lies on a glittering net of thin metal rods. She wears a futuristic full-body suit with a glittering hood and holds a round protective shield in her hand.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Maren Solty stands behind a large window through which gloomy light shines. She wears dark clothes and around her neck are two large skeleton hands.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

Svetlana Belesova wears a bright two-piece suit with a long coat of the same color. In one hand she holds a pair of opened sunglasses, in the other a Louis Vuitton handbag.

Photo: Armin Smailovic

With Svetlana Belesova, André Benndorff, Johanna Eiworth, Lisa-Katrina Mayer, Wiebke Puls, Edith Saldanha, Maren Solty, Edmund Telgenkämper, Martin Weigel
Music (composition, live music) Carolina Bigge
Directed by Jan Bosse
Stage Design Stéphane Laimé
Costume Kathrin Plath
Music (Sounddesign) Arno Kraehahn
Lighting Stephan Mariani, Charlotte Marr
Dramaturge Viola Hasselberg

Assistant director Marion Hélène Weber
Stage design assistance Katharina Quandt
Costume assistance Felix von Loeffelholz, Melina Poppe
Costume Design Assistant Kira Marx
Stage manager Julia Edelmann
Soufflage Sandra Petermann
Stage design internship Josephine von Collas, Svenja Illgen
Soufflage internship Daphne Chatzopoulos
Surtitles Yvonne Griesel (SPRACHSPIEL)
Technical Production Management Rainer Bernt
Artistic Production Management Victoria Fischer
Stage Master Trevor Nelthorpe
Stage Machinery Michael Preusser, Stefan Wickop
Lighting Stephan Mariani, Charlotte Marr, Diana Dorn, Weronika Patan, Sebastien Lachenmaier, Daniel Prütz
Sound Korbinian Wegler, Katharina Widmaier-Zorn
Make Up Alyssia Achille, Sylvia Janka, Caroline Montfort, Sofie Reindl-Grüger, Marisa Schleimer
Costumes Bernd Canavan, Lotta Goeden, Jessica Watermann, Teresa Winkelmann
Props Manuel Kößler, Dagmar Nachtmann, Heidemarie Sänger, Wolfgang Staudinger
Carpentry Michael Buhl, Erik Clauß, Sebastian Nebe, Josef Piechatzek
Metalworkers Jürgen Goudenhooft, Friedrich Würzhuber
Decoration Tobias Herzog, Maria Hörger, Lisann Öttl
Scenic Painting Evi Eschenbach, Ingrid Weindl
Performance Rights Verlag der Autoren

MK: Backstage

A woman's hair is being styled by another woman. They are standing in front of a mirror.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A woman is being made up by another woman. They laugh.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A man has a beard glued on. He sits, a woman stands behind him and glues the beard on.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A woman sits in the make-up room. She is sitting in front of a large, illuminated mirror, next to her is another woman who is doing her make-up.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A woman is wearing a yellow T-shirt and short jeans that come down to her knees. She is playing the guitar.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A group of three women stand together and laugh.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A man is sitting on a chair. Next to him is a table on which he is leaning with his elbow.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A man is sitting at a counter. He is leaning on it with his arms. He has a lighter in one hand and a packet of cigarettes next to it.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A woman sits in the dark in front of a lighted mirror. Another woman stands next to her

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A man is being made up by two women. It is dark around them.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

A man is sitting in a dark room. In front of him is a mirror that emits light and illuminates him. Next to him is another person putting make-up on him.

Photo: Leonard Rössert

Trailer

Video show on youtu.be

Digitale Einführung

Video show on youtu.be

A red lit bar. Celebrating, drinking people in the background. In the foreground Maren Solty, staring into space.

Digital Program Booklet

Learn more about Sasha Marianna Salzmann’s writing and the production “Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein”!

Press reviews

„Bosse und seinem starken Ensemble gelingt es dabei sehr unterhaltsam, ein Fenster in die Historie aufzureißen. Denn die Inszenierung blickt zwar auf einzelne Charaktere- findet in ihnen aber Allgemeingültiges und unbedingt Erzählenswertes. […] Die neun Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler verraten ihre Figuren dankenswerterweise nie für eine Pointe- vielmehr glücken ihnen immer wieder Momente von großer Klarheit, die begreifen lassen. Nichts fällt hier auseinander; ‚Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein‘ ist eine überzeugende Ensemble-Arbeit.“

Münchner Merkur • 2.10.23

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„Ein Saisonstart mit großem Stoff und großem Ensemble.“

Abendzeitung • 2.10.23

nachtkritik.de • 1.10.23

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„Nichts Wichtiges fehlt. Sogar Pirosmanis Giraffe, ein wichtiges Symbol im Roman, findet am Ende noch Erwähnung. Bosse und Hasselberg haben Salzmann auseinandergenommen und auf der Bühne erfolgreich wieder zusammengesetzt. An einem eigenen Narrativ jenseits dieser sportlichen Leistung scheint ihnen nicht gelegen. Aber so ist das: Kammerspiele-Intendantin Barbara Mundel hat ihren Kritiker:innen mehr lustvolle Schauspielabende versprochen. Dies ist definitiv einer davon, ein ziemlich herrlicher.“

nachtkritik.de • 1.10.23

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„In diesem Erinnerungsraum kann man über Tausende von Kilometern hinweg telefonieren und dabei zugleich gemeinsam an einem Tisch sitzen. […]. Man kann das Milchglas des Fensters zertrümmern, weil man es nicht mehr aushält. Oder man kann singen, wenn man sonst keinen Ausweg aus seinen Gefühlen weiß. Es ist ein sehr poetischer Raum, der es ermöglicht, den ebenso poetischen wie zeitlich sehr komplex gebauten Roman von Sasha Marianna Salzmann auf frappierend einfacher und dabei theatral faszinierende Weise auf die Bühne zu bringen. Dabei kann man einem bravourösen Ensemble dabei zuschauen, wie es sich durch die Hoffnungen, Ängste, Lebenslügen und Bewältigungsstrategien der verschiedenen Generationen spielt und dabei noch in der Lächerlichkeit Würde bewahrt. Man erfährt dabei etwas über Menschen im Umbruch.“

BR • 1.10.23

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“Ein vielschichtiger Trip durchs Menschsein, melancholisch, auch mal rätselhaft, tief beeindruckend gespielt (u.a. mit Maren Solty, Svetlana Belesova, Edith Saldanha, Edmund Telgenkämper). Großer Beifall.”

in München • 6.11.23

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Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein

MK: Backstage

Press reviews

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