Die Mitte der Welt

An empty candy jar, a lost snow globe, a black porcelain figure; these are just some of the magical, yet seemingly trivial objects around which the internal and external world of 17-year-old Phil revolves. While the “little people” in the city languish in their meaningless lives on the other side of the river, Phil lives with his mother Glass and his twin sister Dianne at “Visible”, an old mansion where everything seems a little bit more magical, more uncanny, more real and at the same time more surreal than anywhere else. But that does not mean that there are no problems at Visible.

Glass takes home lover after lover, but refuses to talk about her children’s father; Dianne develops a weird connection to animals and plants and retreats from the rest of the family; and Phil falls head over heels in love with his new classmate Nicholas, who seems strangely familiar. Phil’s problem is not the fact that he is gay, which he has known for a long time. But his first love causes quite a stir: It affects his friendship with his best buddy Kat, his relations with his classmates, his self-conception and his understanding of borders. And the biggest question is this: Is it ever possible to really, truly understand another person? Or are we doomed to miscommunicate again and again?

Andreas Steinhöfel (*1962) writes mostly books for children and young adults and was presented with the special award for his oeuvre at the 2013 German Children’s Literature Awards. In “Centre of My World” he creates a reality that is cloaked by illusion; life can be confusing and cruel, but it is always meaningful.

Marco Dott has directed many plays for children and young adults in his own sensitive and imaginative style. He has for instance staged “Momo”, “Les Choristes”, “Turkish Gold” and “Brave New World” for young audiences. The team of designers Jan Hendrik Neidert and Lorena Díaz Stephens demonstrated their impressive imagery in “Dead Ends”, another play for young adults.

Duration: 1 hour and 35 minutes / no break

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