A woman is wearing a fluffy lion costume. Her left hand is in her hair. Behind her stands a man with his stomach to her back. He is wearing a white collar with frills and a black cap.

Photo: Maurice Korbel

MK:

Als lebten wir in einem barmherzigen Land

By A. L. Kennedy

 Schauspielhaus

 World premiere

 Opening night: 26.1.2024

 2 hours

 With English surtitles

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

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

 Schauspielhaus

 World premiere

 Opening night: 26.1.2024

 2 hours

 With English surtitles

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

Should we show mercy to the merciless? — A primary school teacher and a killer caught between love, betrayal and murder

Two versions of reality clash in this gripping story, but hate does not have the last word. Anna is a primary school teacher who still wants to make the world a better place – just as she did 25 years ago when she protested alongside the clowns of the Unrule OrKestrA street theatre troupe against the cynical politics of the British government. At the time, she had no inkling that her then lover “Buster”, a voodoo figure in top hat and tails, was an informant who was betraying them all.

Anna’s reunion with her ex-lover takes place in a courtroom in late 2019 – shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic. She embarks on the hunt for her tormentor and places herself in extreme danger. How far does evil reach? And can Anna keep herself free from it?

In this play, two contrasting perspectives are adroitly intertwined: Anna’s diary (written on recycled paper during the pandemic) and the notes of the undercover cop-turned-killer “Buster” who justifies his cold-blooded murders as a way to rid the world of its worst villains. Two voices, two genders, two world views, two loving men around Anna, two deep crises and two fairy tales. A linguistically brilliant story about our deeply troubling times.

A man wearing a beige trench coat, a white shirt underneath and dark gloves makes a running movement. Next to him is a woman in a fur coat who is also making a movement as if she is running.

Maurice Korbel

A man stands in a glass tube. He is wearing a dark suit and leather gloves. A little further away stands a woman whose clothes are wet and dirty. She looks helpless.

Maurice Korbel

A man has formed his hands into a pistol and has his mouth open, with a fearful expression on his face. He is pointing his hands at the open mouth of a woman who has turned towards him.

Maurice Korbel

A woman is lying in a large, woven wicker basket. She is lying so that she can stretch her legs vertically upwards and her feet are touching the top edge of the basket.

Maurice Korbel

A man lies crying in the arms of a woman. His head is in her lap and he is holding her arms, which are around him.

Maurice Korbel

A woman in a lion costume points into the distance with her left hand and looks in the same direction. A man stands behind her, they are separated by a glass wall. The man is leaning against the glass wall and has his right hand on it. It is clenched into a fist. He is also looking into the distance, but in a different direction to the woman.

Maurice Korbel

A man is sitting at a musical instrument, a trautonium. Next to him is a woman leaning on the musical instrument.

Maurice Korbel

Two people are lying on their stomachs next to each other. The man on the left has a gun in his hand and a disgusted look on his face. The person on the right is a woman wearing a bald cap and dressed as a man. This person is licking the other's left temple.

Maurice Korbel

Two people stand behind a glass wall and press themselves against it. Both are wearing glasses and suits with ties. The light around them is purple and it is foggy.

Maurice Korbel

Two people are facing each other with their faces close together. The person on the left is a man, he is wearing a beige trench coat and has short red hair. The person on the right is a woman, she is wearing a fluffy lion costume and has dark blonde, curly hair that goes down to her shoulders.

Maurice Korbel

A woman is behind a glass wall. She has her hands pressed in front of her mouth because she is vomiting. The glass wall is dirty.

Maurice Korbel

A woman with dark blonde curls is wearing a lion costume. She looks unhappy.

Maurice Korbel

A man stands in a glass tube. He is wearing dark clothes and leather gloves. He has his hands outstretched and is resting them on the glass wall. He looks very serious.

Maurice Korbel

A woman is lying on her side on the floor. She is wearing a blue shirt that is unbuttoned about halfway.

Maurice Korbel

A man stands behind a glass wall. He presses his face against it. His nose is flat and so are his lips; his mouth is slightly open. He is wearing a white, sleeveless top. Over it he has a fake belly made of padding.

Maurice Korbel

A woman stands behind a forehand on plastic strips and looks at a man sitting in a large wicker basket.

Maurice Korbel

A man is standing behind a glass wall. As it is dirty, he has a cloth in his hand and is trying to clean the glass pane.

Maurice Korbel

A woman is wearing a short dress with lots of tulle and a bow in her hair. She is sitting on the floor in a glass tube. A man is sitting in front of the tube with his hand on the glass.

Maurice Korbel

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With Wiebke Puls, Edmund Telgenkämper
Directed by Sandra Strunz
Stage Design & Costumes Sabine Kohlstedt
Live Music Peter Pichler
Lighting Design Jürgen Tulzer
Dramaturge Viola Hasselberg

Assistent to the Director Claudia Kaunzner
Assistent Stage and Costume Design Julia Bahn
Stage Manager Hanno Nehring
Promter Sandra Petermann
Stage Managing Intern Luise Marr
Equipment Intern Laetizia Konvalin
Art production management Zora Luhnau
Production management technology Carolin Husemann
Stage Master Marcel Homack
Stage Machinery Thomas Grill, Michael Preusser, Manuel Weber
Lighting Tobias Fisch, Tankred Friedrich, Parthasarathi Sampath Kumar, Falko Rosin
Sound Quirin Schacherl, Thomas Schlienger
Make-Up Brigitte Frank, Sylvia Janka
Costumes Friederike Diemer, Jessica Watermann
Props Stefan Leeb, Sabine Schutzbach
Carpentry Ellen Bosse, Josef Friesl, Stefan Klodt-Bussmann, Wolfgang Mechmann
Metalworkers Jürgen Goudenhooft, Friedrich Würzhuber
Decorations Anja Gebauer, Tobias Herzog, Maria Hörger
Scenic Painting Evi Eschenbach, Renée Nakad
Performance rights Rowohlt Theaterverlag