Einfach das Ende der Welt

For one weekend, the son leaves his artist's life in the big city after twelve years to return to the place of his childhood and see his family again, who have become strangers to him - or always were. He has something important to tell them. But before that happens, two fundamentally different models of life collide with full force. Jean-Luc Lagarce is one of the most frequently performed playwrights in France, and his play Einfach das Ende der Welt was made into a film with a star-studded cast.

Director Christopher Rüping and his ensemble have now found a playful, delicate form of theatre that deals with pressing social issues of classism, the urban-rural divide, homophobia and what one actually owes one's own family with wit and deep seriousness. How do you face your mother when you didn't want to hear her voice for twelve years? What do you call your little sister when you have no idea who her best friend was when she was 14? And what do you say to your brother who has spent twelve years trying to forget the loss of his lost son, even though no one asked him to.

This production delves into the drama of family. Christopher Rüping is one of the most influential theatre directors of his generation and opened the 2021/2022 season at the Schauspielhaus Bochum with his acclaimed production Das neue Leben – where do we go from here, which was subsequently invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2022. The production Einfach das Ende der Welt from the Schauspielhaus Zürich was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2021 and was chosen as the production of the year 2021 by the theatre magazine Theater heute. It was also awarded the Nestroy Prize as the best German-language performance. Maja Beckmann, who was part of the ensemble in Bochum for a long time, was voted Actress of the Year 2021 for this production, among others, and Benjamin Lillie was awarded Actor of the Year.