Photo: Judith Buss

MK:

Frau Schmidt und das Kind aus Charkiw

Europe Trilogy, part II
By Anne Habermehl

 Werkraum

 World premiere

 Opening night: 24.11.2023

 1 hour 50 minutes

 Thu-Sat: 25€, Sun-Wed: 20€, under 30 years each seat category: 10€

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 Werkraum

 World premiere

 Opening night: 24.11.2023

 1 hour 50 minutes

 Thu-Sat: 25€, Sun-Wed: 20€, under 30 years each seat category: 10€

Where do the blind spots in our family histories come from? — “We are a people of psychopaths that other peoples must now keep an eye on.”

Mannheim-Ludwigshafen, late 1940s: the Second World War is over, the bombs have stopped falling and Mrs Schmidt is wondering what kind of a husband has actually been returned to her after his “civilian deployment” as an engineer in the Ukraine in 1944. He is unable to speak, but he is also unable to be silent. Anne Habermehl observes ten years of a family’s attempts at survival and reconstruction in the American zone – father, mother and child – and the formation of democracy in West Germany. At the same time in her play, the writer has a second Schmidt family – seventy-two years later – direct their gaze towards Ukraine. In 2022, Russia attacks Ukraine, interrupting the Schmidt’s search for the birth family of their adopted Ukrainian son whose origins they have kept secret since 1990.

Where do the blind spots in family histories originate? Is there a system to them? Which narratives are erased so that (West German) life can continue to thrive in peace and freedom?

In the second part of her Europe trilogy, Anne Habermehl reverses her perspective: following “Frau Schmidt fährt über die Oder“ (“Mrs Schmidt Crosses the River Oder”), this time round, rather than looking from the East into a future in the West, her protagonist looks from deep in the West towards the East to explore the concealed past. In Habermehl’s plays, history becomes tangible and poetically alive.

Walter Hess and Johanna Eiworth are in the scene. Walter Hess is sitting on a stool on the left of the photo, his right arm is propped up on a small table next to him. Johanna Eiworth is sitting on an L-shaped wall on the right of the picture. She looks somewhat sadly at the floor.

Photo:Judith Buss

Frangiskos Kakoulakis stands in the open door of a wardrobe. He is wearing an orange whistle around his neck and blue socks without shoes. Edmund Telgenkämper is standing next to the wardrobe, looking at Frangiskos, talking to him and gesticulating. His outstretched arm is pointing in the opposite direction to the cupboard.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper is kneeling on the floor in a white shirt and black trousers, a bouquet of red flowers hanging from his shirt. From behind, Johanna Eiworth holds his head in her hands and whispers something in his ear.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper sits on a light pink sofa with his back to the audience. The sofa is tilted forwards and one leg is missing. Next to him is Johanna Eiworth, who has her hands on her knees and is bent down talking to Edmund. Frangiskos Kakoulakis watches them from a distance, standing behind a wall.

Photo: Judith Buss

Frangiskos Kakoulakis stands on the armrest of a sofa and is embraced from behind by Edmund Telgenkämper so that his head is level with Frangiskos' back. But Frangiskos leans down towards Johanna Eiworth, who is sitting on the sofa

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper is sitting at a table, seen from his right side. His arms and hands are resting on the table. Opposite him is Johanna Eiworth, leaning over the table and holding Edmund's hands. Between them is a pot with a lid.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper and Frangiskos Kakoulakis are seen from behind. They are talking, their heads turned towards each other. An open window can be seen in the background.

Photo: Judith Buss

Johanna Eiworth sits at a sewing machine and sews. The light is dark and only the light from the sewing machine illuminates her face. She is sitting on the landing of a two-step staircase, over which lies the fabric she is currently sewing. It looks as if there is a lot of fabric.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper and Frangiskos Kakoulakis sit on a table with their backs to the audience. Johanna Eiworth sits next to them on a chair facing the audience.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper and Johanna Eiworth move energetically. Edmund Telgenkämper grabs the peak of his cap and looks down, looking happy. Johanna Eiworth has her back to the viewer.

Photo: Judith Buss

Walter Hess is wearing a black robe with white sleeves and collar. He is holding two black garments in both hands at shoulder height. He looks up and smiles.

Photo: Judith Buss

Through a window, you can see the cast shadows of Johanna Eiworth and Walter Hess facing each other. Frangiskos, who has blue hair and is wearing a red leather jacket, is standing in front of the window.

Photo: Judith Buss

Edmund Telgenkämper and Frangiskos Kakoulakis sit on a table with their backs to the audience and look each other in the eye.

Photo: Judith Buss

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A play commissioned by the Münchner Kammerspiele.

With Johanna Eiworth, Walter Hess, Frangiskos Kakoulakis, Edmund Telgenkämper
Directed by Anne Habermehl
Stage Design Christoph Rufer
Costume Charlotte Pistorius
Music Philipp Weber
Lighting Design Wolfgang Eibert
Dramaturge Viola Hasselberg
Dramaturgy Paulina Wawerla
Accessible Theater Filo Krause

Directing Assistant Ruben Müller
Stage Design Assistant Katharina Quandt
Costume Design Assistant Rafael Hinz
Stage Management Barbara Stettner
Prompter Sandra Petermann
Internship Luis Kirchner
Stage design internship Marlene Pastor
Technical Production Management Carolin Husemann
Artistic Production Management Angelika Koch
Stage Master Thomas Graml
Stage Machinery Thomas Grill
Lighting Christian Mahrla, Wolfgang Wiefarn
Sound Nicholas Brown, Korbinian Wegler
Video Dirk Windloff
Make Up Nicola Richter-Okegwo, Mai Strathmann
Costumes Bernd Canavan
Props Daniel Bittner, Manuel Kößler
Carpentry Fabian Gunetsreiner, Sajad Hosayni, Martin Maier, Leon Popp
Metalworkers Jürgen Goudenhooft, Friedrich Würzhuber
Decoration Tobias Herzog, Maria Hörger
Scenic Painting Evi Eschenbach, Renée Nakad
Performance Rights Rowohlt Theaterverlag

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Video show on youtu.be

Digital Program Booklet

Learn more about the production and about the role of Ukraine in the German culture of remembrance as well as in the international surrogacy market.

Frau Schmidt fährt über die Oder

What power relations do we carry within us, how much forward flight is possible? • Europe trilogy, part I • By Anne Habermehl

Press reviews

“Auch Teil zwei inszeniert Habermehl wieder selbst. Er ist klarer, fokussierter, stringenter erzählt, wenn auch voller magischer Elemente.”

TAZ • 27.11.23

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“Anne Habermehl zeigt ihr neues schmerzhaft gutes Stück an den Münchner Kammerspielen. […] Habermehl entwirft in vielen Fragmenten eine Sprache der Liebe, eine Sprache der Erinnerung, durch deren kunstvoll gerahmte Löcher eine Realität durchscheint, die viel größer ist als die der Familie Schmidt, die für vieles steht, viele Leben und vor allem für Europa. […] Das ist fabelhaft, aufregend und auch eine großartige Evokation eigener Erinnerungssplitter.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung • 27.11.23

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“Hier beweist sie ein sicheres Gefühl für Tempo und Rhythmus, sie setzt wirkungsvolle Pausen und hat Sinn für die kleinen Gesten.”

Münchner Merkur • 27.11.23

“Anne Habermehl trifft mit unerbittlichem Realismus das gesellschaftliche Klima vor allem nach dem Krieg.”

Abendzeitung • 27.11.23

“Wie für eine sorgfältige Akkupunktur setzt sie Nadelstiche in die Gemüter des Publikums, trifft neuralgische Punkte, löst Impulse aus. […] Auf diese Weise geheimnisvoll bezaubert sitzt man im Theater selbst an nasskalten Abenden besser als bei jeder Streaming-Orgie vor dem heimischen Bildschirm.”

Donaukurier • 28.11.23

“Das intensive Spiel aller Darsteller*innen und die geschickte Spiegelung des Schweigens und der Traumata durch die Zeiten lassen hier gelingen, was beim ersten Teil Ansatz blieb: das Bild einer Gesellschaft zu zeichnen, die viele Utopien und Chancen auf Veränderung verpasst hat, auf die Asche der Vergangenheit neue Asche häuft.”

Münchner Feuilleton • 11.12.23

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Frau Schmidt und das Kind aus Charkiw

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Frau Schmidt und das Kind aus Charkiw

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