60 Years in Germany - Warming up to an Uncomfortable Identity

The Schaubühne in Berlin marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of East and West Germany in 1949 by collaborating with young playwrights on a two-year programme based on German post-war history. The programme ran for two seasons - 2007/08 and 2008/09 - and comprised of three major thematic segments and a large number of commissioned pieces.

The first segment of the programme addressed the theme of collective memory and the identity-forming events of recent German history. For each decade of German post-war history, each playwright developed a twenty-minute "mini drama". The second segment featured a comedy competition which invited playwrights to examine political and societal conflicts in post-war Germany and adapt them to the stage in the genre of socio-critical comedy in the tradition of Kleist or Dürrenmatt.
The third and last segment offered a broader perspective; playwrights throughout Europe had been asked to write a political drama portraying their view of major ideological and political conflicts in German and European post-war history. The Schaubühne also commissioned new plays from renowned playwrights in Germany and other European countries which have witnessed major social upheavals in recent years. The project concluded with the world premieres of these new plays at a festival at the Schaubühne in spring 2009.

Artistic director: Thomas Ostermeier
Participant: Jens Hillje
Writers: Oliver Bukowski, Simon Froehling (CH), David Gieselmann, Kristof Magnusson, Dorota Maslowska (PL), Marius von Mayenburg, Mark Ravenhill (GB), Falk Richter, Rafael Spregelburd (RA), Gerhild Steinbuch (A) and others
Directors: Benedict Andrews (AUS), Dominic Cooke (GB), Grzegorz Jarzyna (PL), Sebastian Nübling, Tohmas Ostermeier, Falk Richter, Rafael Spregelburd (RA) and others

Venue and schedule:
Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz Berlin, 19 Mar. 2009 - 29 Mar. 2009, Theatre festival