Erde, Feuer, Wasser, Luft #3

The balance of the elements has been disturbed. Two hundred years of industrial influences have changed the earth’s ecosystems. Every day we lose life, habitats, opportunities for the future. How can we mourn our losses? How can we cope with the changes? And look to the future with confidence?

For the third time, Lukas Bärfuss invites an outstanding personality to talk about the future of our planet: The award-winning Scottish author A. L. Kennedy is one of the most important contemporary British authors. She is known not only for her award-winning novels, but also for her keen observations of British politics and society - including a column in which she covered Brexit for the Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2020.

In her lecture written especially for this event and in conversation with Lukas Bärfuss, A. L. Kennedy examines storytelling as a filter for our perception of nature and the world, and as an anchor in times of need. It is stories that carry the knowledge of thousands of years of catastrophes and that tell of the survival of these catastrophes. We humans, says Kennedy, are narrative beings, we make our world and ourselves comprehensible through stories.

The Kammerspiele are already connected to A. L. Kennedy through the production of her latest novel “Als lebten wir in einem barmherzigen Land” (Alive in a Merciful Country) (Director: Sandra Strunz) with Wiebke Puls and Edmund Telgenkämper and through a lecture on social polarization at the beginning of the season.

In 2024, the Münchner Kammerspiele will focus on the relationship between humans and nature. Bärfuss appeals to our imagination and to the theater as a place of imagination. With a reading, a lecture and critical questions, we will create narratives for the next ten thousand years. Join in the discussion!

A.L. Kennedy
Photo: Robin Niedojadlo

Graphics: Yue Ying / Gabriela Neeb

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