Let's imagine the following: The economic miracle after the Second World War took place not in Germany, but in Turkey, and German guest workers helped to rebuild Turkey. It was not Bonn that welcomed the new arrivals, but Istanbul. With a strikingly simple reversal of perspective and based on their own family experiences and questions they ask themselves about home and arrival, director Selen Kara, author Akın Emanuel Şipal and musician Torsten Kindermann tell the tragicomic life story of Bonn guest worker Klaus Gruber in the foreign and dazzling metropolis in ISTANBUL. In the 1960s, he had to leave behind his wife, children and his beloved football club, 1. FC Köln, and came to a country whose language was foreign to him. His wife Luise and children soon followed him. Initial difficulties were gradually overcome, and the family settled in. At some point, the children spoke Turkish better than German. The family settles into the vibrant city. Yet, a conflict remains: Klaus continues to build the house in Bonn he's been saving up for in Istanbul, even though he no longer seriously intends to return to Germany with his family. Between workbenches, bazaars, the vibrant nightlife, and teahouses (none of which serves hand-brewed filter coffee), we experience everyday life as an expat in German scenes, while the longing for happiness, love, and home is sung in Turkish. The focus is on the songs of Sezen Aksu, the queen of Turkish pop, who have accompanied three generations of Turkish society around the world.

EPSG:4326

Istanbul

Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg

"Would you have preferred to have belonged to a different nation (culture), and which one?" "How many times does a certain hope (e.g., a political one) have to go unfulfilled before you give up that hope, and can you do this without immediately creating another hope?" "Would you like to be immortal?" "Is there a classless sense of humor?"

What do we lack to be happy?

Werkstattbühne

Four migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti and Guinea tell us their true stories.

216 million [UA]

They represent the Bonn Republic, stand by while their men engage in politics, stand on the terraces of their Bad Godesberg villas and gaze at the Rhine river landscape, where the Nibelungen treasure is hidden somewhere. Gold and crowns, dented by rolling pebbles, like carnival medals, next to a Nazi emblem, quickly thrown into the water as the American tanks approached. Those who know too much and talk too much have their memories "corrected" in a luxury sanatorium.

Women in front of a river landscape (UA)

When Donald Trump was first elected President of the United States in 2016, Elfriede Jelinek began writing AM KÖNIGSPEG (The Royal Road). In November 2024, two weeks after Trump's renewed victory, she published her epilogue to this royal road: FINAL VICTORY.

On the Royal Road / Final Victory

Elisabeth is confident. Although she's currently unemployed, has no business license, and still has a fine to pay, what she can rely on is herself. Or rather, her body. She wants to sell it to the anatomical institute for scientific experiments after her death. In return, she hopes to receive 150 marks immediately. That would be enough money for her business license. And with that, she could start her own business and work again. And once she had a job, the world would be her oyster again! Unfortunately, Elisabeth seems to have been completely misinformed. The institute has no interest in acquiring her body. Times are tough. The lonely taxidermist still wants to help and lends her the money. She, in turn, uses this to pay off her previous conviction. Of course, he would never have given his hard-earned money to a criminal. He reports her for fraud, and Elisabeth is sentenced to prison. Once free again, she joins the long line of job seekers in front of the welfare office. Without success. By chance, she meets the police officer Alfons. The two fall in love, but Elisabeth keeps quiet about her run-in with the law. When this comes out, he abandons her to avoid jeopardizing his career. Elisabeth is alone again. Without prospects and worn down by everyday life, she has lost faith in a better society, her love for Alfons, and her hope that she will still find happiness.

Lydia Stäubli

Events

Past events

Apr 17 - May 15, 2025

Istanbul · Theater Bonn

Apr 15 - May 25, 2025

What do we lack to be happy? · Theater Bonn

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