Alle Jahre wieder

A family gathers to celebrate. Christmas, they think. Or the 80th birthday of ...? Hey, where do these huge Easter eggs come from, and how are they supposed to be hidden? So many sweets and presents, is that Eid al-Fitr? Anyway, we eat – the turkey, the potato salad, the baklava, like every year. Like everyone else? Seven performers want to know what holds a family together. They test rituals, make you believe and celebrate for real. Just the kids keep butting in, telling how it’s supposed to be right. What a day!

What family rituals do you like?

Hannah Biedermann: At Christmas we have a tree and we bake the decoration ourselves. Gingerbread. I always thread it, and then we hang the pastry on the tree. I like that a lot. Apart from that we have no rituals. It only survives what is fun.

What does family mean to you?

Hannah Biedermann: The modern answer would be: Everyone who is important to you and takes responsibility. I still think it has something to do with kinship. Family, these are also people I find funny, with whom I would never meet if it were not family. But I have no biological or legal connection with my child. And yet this child is mine, too. Family also means consciously assuming a social role.

Why are you directing for kids?

Hannah Biedermann: I do theatre that does not exclude children, out of full conviction and with great pleasure. I find this audience a very pleasant corrective. It‘s different from me in terms of knowledge and experience. So there is always the question: is my audience interested in what I am doing here? You don‘t necessarily ask yourself that when making theatre for adults. Then, one often assumes that the audience is just like oneself. The work for children and youth people strengthens the awareness that theatre is communication.