Tag der Bären

In the organizer's words:

A research trip by Ana Trpenoska
In the company of les dramaturx

In the winter of 2023, the performance collective les dramaturx and Macedonian author Ana Trpenoska will travel to the North Macedonian Mavrovo National Park to visit one of the largest free-roaming bear populations in Europe. In North Macedonia, a candidate country for EU accession, travelers are confronted with a number of political, social and cultural problems. Many of the bears protected and supported by EU programs no longer find their natural hibernation due to the climate crisis. They stay awake and roam the North Macedonian forests in search of food. Despite the higher temperatures, food is extremely scarce for the animals in winter - their insomnia breaks the natural cycle. The North Macedonian village, where the German theater makers receive a very hospitable welcome, is besieged by 20 hungry brown bears, whose shooting and/or expulsion is forbidden under severe penalties. les dramaturx talk to residents, politicians and local environmentalists. It is about religion, corruption, waste export, climate protection and survival in the ruins of capital. Ana Trpenoska's play is based on conversations and research on location. The situation of the village besieged by two dozen brown bears is also very real. In "Day of the Bears", Western European ideas about climate and species protection, about time and the future, collide with the very real circumstances of an Eastern EU accession candidate.

The "Day of the Bears" project is funded by the Zero - Climate Neutral Art and Culture Projects program of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

With: Thomas Leboeg, lynn t musiol and Christian Tschirner

Directed by: les dramaturx
Stage: Julia Oschatz
Costumes: Jana Sophia Schweers
Music: Thomas Leboeg
Light: Björn Salzer

Further information: Day of the Bears | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg