Der Girschkarten (UA)

Two new housing developments directly opposite each other. Rows of single-family home with carports, glaringly bright streetlamps. But between them, there is a single old house left with its overgrown garden. A family meets up there to talk about what to do with it: Finally renovate it properly? Lease it out as a holiday rental with a garden? Or sell it to the developers in the surroundings?

But there are complicated questions concealed behind all these good ideas: Who among the family would want to move in? Who would take care of the holiday rental? And who would have a claim on the proceeds from a sale? Emotions and memories are confronted with a new reality, and gradually, the family’s debate becomes more and more blurred: How intact or dilapidated is the house actually? How many square meters is the property in fact? And: Haven’t we experienced what is happening today once already yesterday?

Once upon a time, there was a splendid cherry orchard. The most beautiful in all the district; it was even mentioned in guidebooks. But there was no future for it, because the family who had owned it for so many years was broke. The cherry orchard was sold and cut down, and the entire area was divided up into plots. This was how Anton Chekhov described it in his final play “The Cherry Orchard” (1904), which he gave the subtitle “A Comedy”. A tragical comedy about missed opportunities and the value of memories.

In 2025, Lukas Rietzschel turns to this cherry orchard’s heritage: The last one of the plots has survived until today. Once again, the house is the subject of opportunities and emotions, and once again, the subtitle is “A Comedy”. A comedy about the changing times and about how to deal with reality: “One and one is two; that much is obvious.” – “It’s no longer obvious to some.”

Author Lukas Rietzschel lives in Görlitz and is one of the most defining literary voices of his generation. Following “Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen”, his novel “Raumfahrer” was published most recently. His first play “Widerstand” was commissioned by Schauspiel Leipzig in 2021; “Das beispielhafte Leben des Samuel W.“ for Theater Görlitz was invited to the 2024 Autor:innentheatertage at Deutsches Theater Berlin, to the 2025 Heidelberger Stückemarkt and to Mülheimer Theatertage in the same year. In 2022, Rietzschel received the Saxonian Literary Award for his works, also including “Widerstand”.

Enrico Lübbe, artistic director of Schauspiel Leipzig, will stage “Der Girschkarten”, his second production of a text by Lukas Rietzschel after “Widerstand”. Lübbe’s team will once again include Teresa Vergho for the costumes (who has worked for theatres including Münchner Kammerspiele, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Vienna’s Burgtheater and at the opera houses of Geneva and Lyon) and Peer Baierlein for the musical design (who has worked most recently at Deutsches Theater Berlin as well as at Volkstheater Wien, as well as playing concerts with the South Quartet).