Spuren

“If the past gets twisted all the time, what’s the base for research?”

Premiere: May 4, 2024

Although the past keeps slipping away from them, Leon Pfannenmüller and Maxim Mamochkin—who moved from Moscow to Berlin almost two years ago—tentatively step into the roles of their grandmothers on the stage of Theaterhaus Jena. They know very little about either of them; what is certain is that one suffered under Nazi violence, while the other fled from the Soviets. They argue, dance, and sing, and time and again questions arise: What blocks our view of the past? What does personal responsibility mean—and does it include a (critical) look at history?

The current war in Ukraine is also bringing the uncanny aspects of the past back to the surface and raises questions about gaps in family histories. What lies dormant within these gaps in knowledge? “Traces” attempts to engage with the complexity of historical entanglements in order to broaden perspectives on the present. What role do mechanisms of memory and national meta-narratives play in this? How far does the war reach?

We also recommend attending the production “Blood.” The projects “Traces” and “Blood” approach the involvement of their own families in the Second World War from different perspectives and explore questions of origin and identity, remembering and forgetting.