EWIG JUNG

It is one of the bizarre contradictions of our youth-programmed times that aging Cuban musicians are celebrated like young pop stars and marketed worldwide. The pianist, composer and director Erik Gedeon reacted to this in equal measure with astonishment and fascination and created his song drama "Ewig Jung" ("Forever Young"). But it is by no means a drama that unfolds on stage, but a play full of biting wit and rousing songs.

The plot is quickly told: In the year 2050, a handful of aging actors are squatting on worn-out furniture in front of the iron curtain of the theater where they were last engaged. The house has long since been closed and the former mimes have chosen it as their retirement home. They take their evening entertainment program into their own hands, remembering the great theater days of the past and the music of their youth.

A nice retirement home indeed - if it weren't for Sister Angelika: With children's songs and cheerful lilting about infirmity, death and decay, she creates a rather subdued mood among her elderly patients. When she turns her back on them, however, the graying ramp panthers let loose with a lust for life and indulge in (self-)performance. Chekhov and Shakespeare are also quoted, but above all there is singing.

The roles of these six aged seniors are played by actors in their prime. Only Sister Angelika is as old as the actress who plays her.