The Impossible – Reading with concentrated acting

The three possible lives of the embryos - Amelie, Max and Fabian - are told in a parallel montage: What makes life happy? Is DNA really the all-determining blueprint? Which of the three lives is the most worth living? You will hear three options and the parents will choose one. Staying behind: the impossible.

The well-known actors Jan Josef Liefers, Matthias Koeberlin, Meret Becker, Claudia Michelsen, Ronald Zehrfeld and Thomas Loibl brought the text by Plamper/Kamphausen, conceived as a radio play, to the stage in Hanover in 2018. In the idea and editing of the producer of the staged reading, Simone Henke, this was intended as a one-off reading. The unexpected, overwhelming success has now obliged the ensemble to perform throughout the entire German-speaking region.

The three embryos that are created in the test tube are embodied by Meret Becker, Matthias Koeberlin and Ronald Zehrfeld. The actors impressively bring these characters to life and let them fictionally grow up. Meret Becker's liveliness develops an energy that is quickly transmitted to the audience, Matthias Koeberlin shows his role's ambition to plan life in a magnificently unflinching manner, his assertiveness flickers almost tangibly through the room; Ronald Zehrfeld depressingly plays the introversion of a boy who can only express his feelings when playing the piano; the sound of his sensitive voice is a delight for the listeners - these are all masterpieces of acting.

Claudia Michelsen and Thomas Loibl impressively show how each individual child affects the parents' life together; Multi-faceted, they transform into a couple that can endure stress in different ways and either remember what they have in common or fall apart because of it. Every minute the role of the married couple is taken away from them.

The master of ceremonies is brilliantly staged in Devid Striesow, who acts as a brilliant replacement for Jan Josef Liefers on several dates with his usual precision. How all the threads come together for him, how he mainly acts as a narrator and also reads some of the supporting roles with a lot of humor, is a brilliant achievement. With a level-headed voice and expression, he leads the audience through the story of the evening.

The artists' exuberant joy in playing, the enthusiastic audience, the roles perfectly and thoughtfully cast by Simone Henke, the range of emotions that are evoked that evening - it works!

Devid Striesow, Meret Becker, Claudia Michelsen, Ronald Zehrfeld, Matthias Koeberlin and Thomas Loibl stage a highly topical piece on prenatal diagnostics

(*The line-up is subject to change)