Kinder der Sonne

In his play "Kinder der Sonne" ("Children of the Sun") from 1905, Maxim Gorki describes a group of Russian intellectuals who have become alienated from the people and from real life. While the working class wishes for the fall of the tsarist regime, they immerse themselves in books, art and love affairs. 120 years later, the situation seems different: a large part of intellectual life is concerned with moral injustices and our future. Researchers working on the climate, migration and the economy fight to be listened to, while – from the top down – funding is being cut. Even those who belong to the educated classes can barely afford rent in the city centres anymore. So what is education worth now in our society? And what significance does it have for political processes? Or has the academic world lost its capacity to engage in social participation in the ivory tower? Jakob Nolte's version renovates this classic from the ground up and pushes it in the direction of a screwball comedy. His characters struggle their way through a world that is threatened with disappearance or has already imperceptibly disappeared. Armed with not much more than their vocabulary and a little dignity. 

The last production directed by Laura Linnenbaum at the Berliner Ensemble was the world premiere of Tena Stivičić's "Die Verstreuten" ("The Scattered"). Her work is characterised by dense atmospheres and sociopolitical perspectives. "Kinder der Sonne" is Linnenbaum's second collaboration with the playwright and novelist Jakob Nolte, who recently shook up the regional crime fiction genre with his noir thriller "Die Frau mit den vier Armen" ("The Woman with the Four Arms").