Sunflowerhouse

(Achtzehn Einhundertneun-Lichtenhagen)

By Anne Rabe

(winner of the Kleist-Scholarship 2008)

Translated by Philip Thorne

Directed by Lydia Ziemke 

A family in close-up. Everything takes place in their flat, their living room even, in a typical East German concrete high-rise block in Rostock-Lichtenhagen. In this confined space Micha, who is making a film about his family, in order to get into film school, unwittingly uncovers a lot and forces the family to make decisions as to how to remember their past. The time is some years after the fall of the Wall, his father was a Stasi informant, his pregnant sister has been kicked out of university and his best friend is a Neo-Nazi. In fact it may be that Micha was himself part of that famous arson attack on the asylum seekers home in 1992 - the Sunflowerhouse.

This is a play about growing up and facing the consequences of one's actions, as well as a study of individual and collective memory. Looking at the reality of the different generations of a regular family in the wake of Germany’s reunification, the play does not embrace any of the customary nostalgia. This compact three-hander is a powerful portrait of the first post-unification generation.

Sunday January 31st 3.30pm

£5