How to make Good Art for East Germans? /
Wie macht man gute Kunst für Ostdeutsche? (2021)
in collaboration with Rika Weniger and Noah Voelker
Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, they came together to explore the East German identity:
Noah Voelker, theater maker (*1990, USA),
Rika Weniger, actress (*1981, GDR)
and Burkhard Körner, choreographer (*1983, GDR).
Now they have developed a theater evening in which
they won't talk about the Stasi nor the Treuhand.
Instead, they will tell their own story(s),
in order to approach the phenomenon of East Germany and to bring different generations together.
Without cynicism and including self-doubt, they are seeking their place within the East German narrative.
If you think that the play will answer the question "How do you make good art for East Germans?" you are mistaken. Noah Voelker, Rika Weniger and Burkhard Körner rather want to show the
facets of East German identity and stimulate a discourse.
NDR 1 Radio MV
Older and younger East Germans alike should and can dock onto [the evening]. The fact that searching for and thinking about one's own identity with this piece works turns out in the
subsequent discussion with the audience.
Deutschlandfunk Kultur
'Jammer-Ossi' and 'Besser-Wessi': the clichés are taken up in this evening. However, the 30 play scenes question these clichés.
MDR Sachsenspiegel
It becomes clear in the course of the discussion that there is no such thing as an East German identity.
Freie Presse
The partly highly emotional production evoked many memories and feelings also in the audience.
BLITZ am Sonntag
THE THEATER EVENING
In How to make good art for East Germans? Rika, Noah and Burkhard tell their own story(s) and thus embark on a roller coaster ride of emotions, with almost forgotten memories,
stories, songs and bodies from East Germany before and after 1990:
As a group of three, they dare to dance to the hits of the 90s, sing songs of peace and of a new beginning, tell of the tearful acquisition of new kitchens, swear at the USA, comfort silenced
grannies or just themselves, encourage the audience, as East Germans they don't really want to be one, but as workers' children they finally want to belong, proudly declare themselves to be a
"Jammer-Ossi" and explore (body) attitudes that still shape them today.
They ask:
Why won't my origins leave me alone?
How deeply am I connected to the stories and places of my childhood?
What knowledge is hidden behind my East German identity?
Do I (still) belong here?
The theater evening is a reappraisal in 30 attempts. It brings together different perspectives of the post-reunification generation and invites a new confrontation with individually and
collectively experienced ruptures and one's own history.
The evening ends in a conversation with the audience and the makers.
Concept, text, direction & play | Rika Weniger, Noah Voelker & Burkhard Körner
Dramaturgy | Maria Rößler
Technique | Thomas Kühn
Production management | Christine Elbel
Photos | Peter van Heesen
Running time: 80 minutes
Language: German and English with German UT
Premiere: 16.06.2021 | Neubrandenburg | Kommunales Kino Latücht