All das Schöne

Solo piece with audience by Duncan Macmillan

Rowohl Theatre Publishers, Duncan Macmillan

PREMIERE: February 3, 2024

1. Lemon ice cream, 2. water fights, 3. staying up later than usual and watching TV, 4. Die Farbe Gelb: the colour yellow… With everything that is beautiful about the world.

The protagonist of this solo piece, which can only be told together with the audience, begins making a list of all things nice in the world for his mother in the hope that this will end her depression and life will go on. In a way, it does. But not everything automatically becomes good. There is always a strange sadness lurking, there are crashes, embarrassing situations and injuries. The list has grown and grown over the years, approaching a million: 999,997. The alphabet, 999,9998. Inappropriate songs in emotional moments, 999,999. Completing a task….

A courageous, life-affirming and thought-provoking play about absent parents, faithful companions and big and small life decisions. The play deals with themes of depression as well as the suicide of the protagonist’s mother.

If you or someone close to you is in a crisis, sees no hope and is perhaps thinking about no longer wanting to live, you can find help from the following places:

Arbeitskreis Leben Stuttgart e.V.: 0711 600620 www.ak-leben.de

Anonymous online counseling by young people for young people:
www.youth-life-line.de, www.u25-freiburg.de and www.nethelp4u.de

Crisis and emergency service Stuttgart: 0180 511 0 444
Telephone counseling: 0800 111 0 111 or 0800 111 0 222
Police and rescue service: 110 and 112

Ages 14 and up, grades 8 an up
Prices: Children/young adults €7.00, adults €12.00

Notes on sensory stimuli

The following sensory stimuli appear in places in the production:

– During the performance, the audience sits in the same room as the actor. The room is separated from a larger room by a curtain made of paper strips.
– The actor plays and speaks in front of, next to and behind the audience. At times, he sits close to the audience.
– The audience sits on benches without backrests during the performance. (You can ask for a chair with a backrest if you need one).
– There is music with a noticeable bass and a quiet, high, continuous tone.
– There is a loud leaf blower. There is wind from the leaf blower. The paper strips are whirled up at that moment.
– There is a movable spotlight that can briefly dazzle the audience.
– The audience and the actor can always see each other.
– The actor makes direct eye contact with some members of the audience. The actor addresses the audience directly at times. Individual audience members are invited to take on roles or tasks in the play. (You can decline the invitation by shaking your head or denying it. This is not specifically stated in the play).
– The piece can trigger great emotions. The actor also shows strong emotions at times, such as great joy, infatuation, anger and a feeling of confinement.