The Secret of Claire and Wölfchen

Live radio play about Tucholsky’s first love

featuring the two stars from: THE LEGEND OF PAUL AND PAULA andPASTEWKA/­DARK/­ZDF heute-show
Dietrich Hollinderbäumer and Christian Steyer

featuring a live sound effects artist, projected stage sets and music

After eight decades, a missing book resurfaces at the Tucholsky Museum.
It contains handwritten lines from Kurt Tucholsky to Claire. Whilst rummaging through the museum, a graphic designer discovers a torn-out page in this book. (The book and the torn-out page can actually be viewed at the Tucholsky Museum)
Together with her boss, the graphic designer sets out to get to the bottom of the matter. They embark on a detective-style journey to trace the book’s whereabouts – and find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of bizarre stories…
The poignant story of a Jewish woman’s fate during the Weimar Republic, which forms the central thread of the play, is that of Claire, Tucholsky’s first wife, with whom he spent his secret romantic holiday in 1911 and whose champagne-light prose was what gave the book *Rheinsberg* its distinctive character.
Kurt and Claire’s personal crises are brought into sharp relief, as is the political turmoil following the collapse of the Weimar Republic.
… Divorce, near-forced expropriation, revocation of his medical licence, flight to France and yet (almost in safety) being sent back to the German-occupied zone… could things still turn out well?
... Anti-Semitism, the role of women, ‘what happens in times of war and displacement?’... all of these are highly topical issues addressed in the play.

The play was the main attraction at the “LiteraTour Elbe-Elster” and was also invited to Lit: Potsdam.
At the Franz Bobzien Prize, the project received an honourable mention for tolerance and democracy

Duration: 2 hours

• Apollo Görlitz
• Guest performance