Everything passes by

"That lamppost over there tastes like you've bitten your lip or tongue. But you're only allowed to lick it in the summer. In the winter, you'll stick to it." 

Quote from a resident in Grünau

Do you remember the days when you could flick traffic lights to green? When puddles after a summer storm were like large lakes and cracks in the hot asphalt were secret signs – if you stepped on them, you'd die instantly. Do you remember when you could blink the world away? When you could take off on a swing and fly over the entire neighborhood? 

Equipped with tablets and headphones, led by a small tour guide, Anpartnersincrime with the audience through the Grünau housing estate, searching for hiding places, playgrounds, and vantage points. Videos of the surroundings pass by on the tablets, are directed, and shift. We see images from other times and hear various thoughts about this place.
What opportunities for participation do children growing up here have, among prefabricated buildings, green meadows, and concrete benches? How do they make this space their own? And what might this place look like if it adapted to their needs?

#TurnTheWorldBlue #children's rights

Last summer, we embarked on a research trip to Grünau – the Leipzig district that was built in the 1970s as a great promise of modern housing for everyone, but is now denounced as a slab and problem area. We wanted to find out what it's like to grow up here, among prefabricated buildings, green meadows, and concrete benches. What opportunities for participation do children have in Grünau? How do they make this space their own? Can children's needs and system architecture be reconciled, or do they conflict with one another?

With all these questions in mind, we traveled to Grünau repeatedly, partnered with various youth and cultural centers, and met a wide variety of Grünau experts between the ages of 9 and 13, who shared their strategies for appropriating public space. The result was a video walk that leads the audience out of the theater and into Grünau's concrete labyrinths. Led by various little guides, the audience wanders through the district, looking for loopholes, playgrounds, and vantage points. They are encouraged to see their surroundings through the eyes of a child again and remember what it was like back when they could flick all the traffic lights to green. When the puddles after a summer thunderstorm were swimming lakes and the cracks in the hot asphalt were secret signs. When they could still take the tram to their next birthday so it would come faster. So get on board, we'll meet on November 20th!

Actresses Live Performance: Sinem Dinara Hartmann, Kira-Katharina Zimmermann
Voice-Over: Miriam Klüh

CAST IN THE FILM: 
Guides: Sinem Dinara Hartmann, Malou Löffler, Ben Zeisler, Kira-Katharina Zimmermann
Reporters: Sinem Dinara Hartmann, Malou Löffler, Ben Zeisler, Kira-Katharina Zimmermann

Natalie Hadarie, Anna Döhler, Finja Döhler, Timmy Eggert, Emilia Ehrenberg, Josephine Etumunu, Sinem Dinara Hartmann, Anton Hermann, Raciel, Carlos Ros, Fanny Schreiber, Saskia Schürmeier, Alina Stäbler, Oskar Stäbler, Diana Sulaimani, Anna Sophie Ulrich, Emily Wende 

Artistic Director: Eleonora L. Herder
Dramatugry: Nele Beinborn
Video design + video production: Jos Diegel
1. Camera: Jos Diegel
2nd Camera: Michelle Koprow
Cut: Jos Diegel, Michelle Koprow
Features: Michelle Koprow 
Sound design + music: Jonas Harksen 
Production dramaturgy: Sarah Charlotte Becker

Choreography of the dance scenes in the film: Johanna Uhle, Mechthild Schade
Pedagogical support: Marika Fleischhauer, Marie Molle, Paul Illner, Josefine Bartl
Creative Producer: Sven Rausch 

A production by andpartnersincrime in co-production with LOFFT – DAS THEATER. In cooperation with the Heizhaus youth center in Leipzig-Grünau, the Theatrium (großstadtKINDER eV), the Offener Freizeittreff Völkerfreundschaft eV, and the Leipzig public transport company LVB. Supported by the City of Leipzig – Cultural Office and the Performing Arts Fund with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR program. andpartnersincrime receives multi-year funding from the City of Frankfurt am Main.

November 20, 2022, 11:00 a.m. | 12:30 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. | 3:30 p.m.

-> Further performances planned for September 2023! More info coming soon.

Starting point: LOFFT – THE THEATER, Spinnereistraße 7/Halle 7, 04179 Leipzig 
Endpoint: OFT International Friendship, Stuttgarter Allee 9, Grünau-Mitte 

Length of time: 90 minutes