Wheezing bellows, squeaking rollers, clattering cogs – we are transported to the soundscape of the mining regions of Europe; slag heaps surround us, nature struggling to reassert itself. The focus is on how to move forward in a landscape transfigured by industry and the lives and dreams of the people there. In SOHLE EINS-ACHTZIG, this transformation is accompanied by the music of an antique pianola. This mechanical-musical world theatre is a kind of ghost song – situated between the memory of a distant past and the radical upheavals of the present – that is far from a whisper.

The duo schoenbrodtkuerschner comprises the author, puppeteer and puppet maker Moritz Schönbrodt and the violinist and composer Johannes Kürschner. Since 2018, in their joint productions, the two have been on a constant search for a literary genre specific to puppetry, setting themselves the challenge of exploring the interface between music and puppet theatre and pushing the boundaries between the two. A key aim of their work is to promote political dialogue by making social issues audiovisually tangible, thus helping their audiences to explore new approaches and perspectives.