Meine Königin

At the edge of a field a young man meets an older woman. They become involved in a conversation. Two seeming strangers a whole generation apart – but not only that. Because what starts as awkward small talk gradually digs deeper and deeper. They share memories and make up stories that become increasingly fantastical and transcend the realms of reality: is the woman a queen or just the daughter of a wealthy sweet manufacturer? Did the spirit of King Ludwig II of Bavaria who drowned in the lake turned into a swan and has it even inhabited humans since then? And what mysterious psychotropic healing plant grows on the wall of a fairy tale castle that has not even been built yet?  

»After fourteen stage plays it is perhaps my simplest plot: an older woman and a younger man meet at the edge of a field and talk. No jumps in time, no changes of scene. The woman has never seen the boy before. ›And you?‹, ›I’ve just come from my mother’s‹ – their conversation could hardly be more commonplace. The action intensifies into a shared memory game. And just like turning over cards, they gradually reveal their stories. Sometimes we find it much easier to confide in strangers. Inadvertently a dynamic develops that swings back and forth like a pendulum that cannot choose between sympathy and antipathy, between trust and scepticism. And an unpleasant thought occurs to the woman: does this boy know me?« Caren Jeß

In her new play the multi-award-winning playwright Caren Jeß presents people who are struggling with their inheritance and weave stories around themselves and others. A play about the tender and empowering but also the intrusive and violent narratives that we invent about ourselves and others – a play about estrangement and empathy.