Am Königsweg/Endsieg
Direction Alina Fluck Stage and costumes Marleen Johow Music and video Oskar Smollny Dramaturgy Katharina Rösch The cast Mansur Ajang, Christopher Heisler, Silvia Weiskopf Photos Fatih Kurçeren
"Have you already voted? We have, thank you very much. Tomorrow it will be someone else's turn, but it will take a while until tomorrow." When Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the USA in 2016, Elfriede Jelinek began writing the theatre text "Am Königsweg". It features a series of tragicomic characters: a corrupt king who has made a fortune from property, golf courses and casinos. A blind seer whose eyes bleed in the face of his rise. And many other blind people who are outraged in disbelief while the king creates new conditions. A lot has changed in the world since this text was published. Right-wing ideas have reached the centre of society, even in Germany.
Von Wolken und Menschen
February 2024
Video Katharina Schnekenbühl Photos Paula Tschira
A place between different spheres. A point that offers a distant view, an overview and lightness. Passing clouds, an intangible, ever-changing fascination A place where the sound of the wind heralds change and transformation processes. A space in the clouds as an intermediate realm.
Wunder
Premiere 1. February 2025 Marleen Johow was nominated by "Theater heute" in the category "Best Newcomer in Stage & Costumes" of the year 24/25" for her set design for the production "Wunder" at Osnabrück Theatre.
Direction Alina Fluck Stage and costume Marleen Johow Music Alexander Zwick Dramaturgy Kundry Reif The cast Lua Mariell Barros Heckmanns, Rebekka Biener, Sascha Maria Icks, Oliver Meskendahl Photos Jane Jachens, Marleen Johow
The body is a miracle. The body is a wound. Enis Maci takes the voices of the dervish Hatixhe, Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, beauty influencers and porn star Cora Wosnitza, as well as many other women, and wanders with them from rituals to routines, from fasting to control, from amazement to hypocrisy, from empowerment to instrumentalisation. Loving, haunting and always oscillating between inadequate and very close, WUNDER becomes a tale of the body, of giving and taking, of doubting and believing, of meaning and of that which perhaps need not have any meaning at all. Or: "because WE can only be wonderful if it is fundamentally vulnerable and yet it must not allow itself to be wounded if it wants to work."
Heartland
Calle Fuhr // CORRECTIV A studio production in cooperation with CORRECTIV Premiere: 21.11.2024
Direction and text Calle Fuhr Stage and costume Marleen Johow The cast Pia Dembinski, Juliane Ebner, Carl Geißler, Richard Globert, Alexandra Juschkewitsch, Emil Lug, Jonathan Walz Photos Merle Trautwein
It's 2019, Fridays for Future fills the streets, "the climate" fills the news. Young journalist Theresa is at a family party in the west of Germany. There she is confronted not only with her mother's alcoholism, but also with the sometimes outrageous conspiracies of her extended family. Back in her editorial office in Berlin, Theresa and her colleagues set off in search of the sources of the climate conspirators in Germany. They soon come across organised climate denialist institutes - right in the heart of Germany. In order to gain a better understanding of how climate deniers network, what drives them and what their plans are, the editorial team goes undercover at a conference. And what they find out there will only be the beginning of a major research trip. Based on research by CORRECTIV, HEARTLAND immerses the audience in the heart of organised climate denial. Seven 3rd year drama students slip into a variety of roles - from investigative journalist to conspiratorial aunt to powerful boss of the American fossil fuel lobby.
Helena oder Stay safe and sorry
Selma Kay Matter Premiere 31. October 2024
Direction Alina Fluck Stage and costume Klara Schur, Marleen Johow Dramaturgy Julia Fiebag The cast Clara Kroneck, Artur Spannagel, Christian Bo Salle Photos Birgit Hupfeld
Now that Helena has cancelled her trip with lover Paris, everything could be fine again. But "there is guilt everywhere": in the relationship between Helena and Menelaus, in the ecological and economic system, in her own lifestyle. Helena's encounter with a sperm whale turns all boundaries into fiction - including those between species: lobsters cry out for her, raccoons occupy her attic and mourn the dead. Helena decides to become a raccoon, to free herself from anthropocentrism and be in harmony with nature. While she strives for the dissolution of man, Menelaos looks for a way to fight nature and picks up a gun. Selma Kay Matter has written a humorous play about climate guilt, the end of humanity and desperate actionism.
How to die in 29 minutes
Direction Julia Gudi, Rebecca Gärtner Stage and costume Marleen Johow Music Eunhye Joo Dramaturgy Christina Schulte The cast Anneke Gies, Franz Kemter Singing Violeta Samon, Songjae Choe
Premiere July, 2024
High culture meets pop culture. Coke kisses orange. Finally, the new dating format "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" has arrived on the opera stage. This format combines dating, cooking and opera singing, because escalating emotions keep the show going. Or do they? On this evening, it's not just recipes that are exchanged, because as we all know, something always goes wrong on first dates ... In an examination of pieces from the opera repertoire, HOW TO DIE IN 29 MINUTES poses the question of what is actually being negotiated in our favourite arias: What happens to the eternally dying female characters and why are they actually always looking for a partner? Which of the operatic conflicts are still being played out today? Can opera be a mirror of society at all and if so - who is looking in?
Sonntag
Premiere May, 2024
Direction Pascal Thieret Artistic direction Marleen Johow Production design Stephanie Pröm Costume Luise Hermann Camera Noah Böhm The cast Lilli Biedermann und Rabea Egg
“Sonntag” brings to life the complexity of our relationship with sundays and how each interaction holds the power to change literally everything.
Eine Zierde für den Verein
Direction Alina Fluck Stage and costume Marleen Johow Collaboration stage and video Nils-Thore Grundke Music Alexander Zwick Dramaturgy Kundry Reif The cast Laura Talenti, Julius Gruner, Joshua Kliefert, Maurice Läbe, Philipp Lehfeldt, Dennis Svensson Photos Anna Permesang
Premiere April, 2023
Gustl, the best swimmer in town, heartthrob and small-town hero, falls in love with Frieda, an independent and melancholy loner. When Gustl lays claim to Frieda's labour and inheritance, their love is shattered by the different ideas of relationship that are revealed. Offended in his masculinity and with a broken heart, Gustl conspires to turn his swimming team into a misogynistic mob, with Frieda as the main target of their hatred. The first National Socialist ideas soon spill over into their swimming and body cult, they vandalise the Jewish cemetery and act as the town's moral police. Frieda has no choice but to flee the confines of her origins. Marieluise Fleißer's novel, although 100 years old, captivates with its topical themes and questions: How important is (economic) independence in a relationship? How is love influenced by work, dependency relationships and the understanding of one's own self? The production also examines "masculinity" as a social construct and reveals frightening parallels with today's tendencies. In the character of Gustl, it becomes clear how suppressed grief and hurt sublimate into anger and hatred.
Guten Tag
Premiere Januar, 2023
Direction Emil Klattenhoff Production design and costume Marleen Johow Production design collaboration Sophia Hubel Camera Jonas Kleinalstede, Paula Tschira The cast Severin Heine, Thomas Hauser
Toni wants to move in with his father. Linne, recently separated, is enjoying his new-found freedom as a part-time father. At Munich railway station, the two negotiate their love for each other, between caring and stubbornness, in search of a form for their relationship.
Früchte des Zorns
Premiere May, 2022
Direction Elias Emmert Stage and costume Marleen Johow Music Alexander Zwick Dramaturgy Carlotta Huys The cast Nora Buzalka, Nellie Fischer-Benson, Luise Hart, Walter Hess, Joshua Kliefert, Sammy Scheuritzel, Carolin Wege Photos Paula Tschira
"Anyone can make it!" is the American dream, which has long since become a global one. In his epochal novel "The Grapes of Wrath", however, John Steinbeck places the deconstruction of this myth at the centre of his narrative. A farming family is forced to abandon their home after years of drought and growing economic pressure. With an unshakeable belief in a golden future, they head west, where the economy is booming and there is supposedly good work for everyone. There, the refugees are seen not just as "a burden, but as an opportunity" - but an opportunity for whom? The American dream of hope is revealed to be a clever marketing strategy that promotes exploitation and individualisation, while the faceless banks and super-rich accumulate more and more wealth - and break up communities. In this production of "The Grapes of Wrath", the microcosm of the family is used to illustrate the destructive power of capitalism in our relationships and what can perhaps be done to counter this power.
Take Me Home - Dr.Hauschka
Premiere August, 2022
Direction Maximilian Bungarten, Felizitas Hoffmann Production design Marleen Johow, Onno Gaissmaier Costume Marleen Johow Camera Tom Otte The cast Melinda Mohajer
Elif, a young scientist and astronaut in space , remembers the earth through the scent of Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream.
Cold Love
Direction Lennart Boyd Schürmann Stage design Marleen Johow Costume Carla Renée Loose Music Stanislav Iordanov Dramaturgy Moritz Nebenführ The cast Cornelius Kiene, Lea Reihl, Anna K. Seidel, Nils Thalmann, Niklas Wetzel, Julius Gruner, Nathalie Schörken, Katharina Stark Photos Constanza Meléndez
Premiere June, 2021
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's cycle of novellas "The Legacy of Cain" was planned as a poetic panorama of the cold and gulfs of human natural history. However, only two of the six parts were completed, the volumes on love and property. COLD LOVE (seelenstahlbaden) speculatively continues the unfinished opus magnum in a series of miniature pieces. Following the structure of a Japanese nō-theatre festival, different performative perspectives on the risks of modern freedom projects are chosen and their potential for frustration is explored in an exemplary manner - as a therapeutic cure for the soul of those in love.
The Mysterious Opacity Of Other Beings
Premiere December, 2020
Direction Ferdinand Feldmann Production design Marleen Johow Costume Nelson Heinemann Camera Tobias Blickle The cast Thilo Garus, Manfred Weigl, Yuuki Tang, Giulia Gallizzi, Salif Botz, Mateo Golisano, Maida Touagbere, Federico Brens
When a detached young man sees a moth buzzing around a light, he starts studying the human nature through animals. Fish become white-collar workers, while the protagonist still seeks his own counterpart. What is it that everybody seems to be chasing in a world so incomprehensible?
Car Stop - Auto Rast
Premiere June, 2020
Direction Berthold Wahjudi Production design and costume Marleen Johow Camera Tobias Blickle The cast Jorid Lukaczik, Jonathan Stolze
During a long car journey, a couple stop in a field to take a pee break.