Description
I sat in a large waiting room, and it was called Europe. Eight days later, the train departs. I knew that. But where it was going and what would become of me, no one knew. And now we are sitting again in the waiting room, and again it is called Europe! And again we do not know what will happen. We live provisionally!" When unemployed advertiser Fabian wakes up after the last and the next drunken night at the popular fries stand of the metropolis, he finds himself in extraordinary conditions. With the last war behind him, the next in his mind, the population indulges in hedonism. "Wonderful," Fabian thinks and falls asleep peacefully again. Shortly thereafter, a small group gathers worriedly around the motionless young man. Two hardened operators of a popular fries stand in the metropolis, a connoisseur of international film law, an aspiring Germanist in leather slacks, the male brothel owner Frau Moll, and a communist drag queen ask him: "Young man, what now?" He wakes up and replies: "Should I go or not? Why should I move forward? For what and against what? Why am I not at home with my mother, where you can just as well wait for the downfall of Europe? What is the ball in my left buttock doing? Who makes tea for my mother? When will we arrive and with whom? Is there peace when the wars are over?" Together, they decide to investigate further and move to the cousin. Erich Kästner's city novel from 1933 depicts a perceptive portrait of a society in upheaval. With sharp wit, grotesque exaggeration, and deep melancholy, Kästner describes late Weimar Berlin, a world full of political radicalization and moral decay, where no one is willing to listen to the other anymore. Kästner's focus is on the young Fabian as an ironic observer, who finds no action, is driven by the whirlwinds of the big city, and perishes alone. The ghostly parallels of the novel to the present are often read as a prophecy of a recurrence of the same and an absolute catastrophe. In the RZt, they do not want to trust the cultural pessimist's draft of an inevitable downfall and do not let Fabian stumble alone through the big city. A group of outsiders discusses together the fragility of morality, empathy, and resistance amidst today's crisis experiences through their own texts, drag show elements, and the pounding beats of the house band 21 downbeat. Thus, a flickering cityscape of Berlin emerges, which can probably only be experienced in this form at the RZt. Funded by the Performing Arts Fund from resources of the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media as well as from resources of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
Highlights
- Premiere of the play "Fabian. The Walk Before the Dogs"
- Performance at Theater RambaZamba
- Addresses life in uncertain times
General Information
The premiere of "Fabian. The Walk Before the Dogs" takes place at Theater RambaZamba in Berlin. The play deals with the challenges and uncertainties of life in a society marked by wars and offers a critical engagement with hedonism and identity.
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October 2026
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