Roland Schimmelpfennig

Auf der Greifswalder Straße
15 D, 19 H, (Doppelbesetzungen möglich), St
UA: Januar 2006 · Deutsches Theater, Berlin · Directed by: Jürgen Gosch
The man without a dog, a rocker, cashiers, construction workers, three Romanians, the woman with the photo shop, a publican, tram passengers…
They meet accidentally, pass each other by or touch each other briefly, they are connected, mostly without even knowing it: people in a big city. They are in their own bubbles, speak for and about themselves and sometimes only with themselves. Through scenes that highlight this, the melange of people form a whole panorama.
On Greifswalder Street, their threads are woven together, threads that are stretched to breaking point. Right at the beginning, the prophecy: “I am here to warn you, Rudolf. Be careful of the tall girl. Be careful of the giraffe.” He only has 24 hours left. Rudolf runs through the streets and pubs searching for an answer: What should he do with the time he has left?
Twenty-four hours. The sun seems to stay still in the heavens, for everyone. The engine runs, stutters and stops now and again. There is a rupture in day-to-day life.
“It seems to me that the whole city is waiting for something.
It seems to me as if I myself am waiting.”
Like Robert Altmann in Short Cuts, Schimmelpfennig draws a slice of the present together, concentrating it. A present with a false bottom, however, that holds a secret in its chance moments, something inscrutable that puts people off their stride.
Translated into: Czech, English, Spanish, Swedish