© "DIE ALLEINSEGLERIN SEGELT ALLEIN!", BY JAN KOSLOWSKI, HANNAH DÖRR, THILO FISCHER, 2019

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In sailing, there is a position called the hopeless position. So: There is a boat in front of you that takes the wind away from you. But you can't go back either, because there's also one behind you. There is another boat next to you, and you take the wind from it. Two boats sail straight towards each other, see each other and know immediately that they are lost. Sailing experience advises you to simply do nothing at all! The matter solves itself. And that is not fate, that is a rule. If you sail alone, it is not only a victory over the boat, it is also a victory over yourself.
 

Christine is a solo sailor. But she hardly ever gets to sail and she doesn't win any races. In the 1987 DEFA film of the same name, however, she at least inherits a dilapidated sailing boat. She wants to repair it and gets completely lost in the process. She spends every free minute sanding and scrubbing her fingers, neglects her research work at the Literature Institute and puts her relationship at risk. On top of that, she is a single mother of a young daughter. In the end, she sails... against a sandbank. I don't believe it!

More than 30 years ago now. So far, so depressing. But not for long and she shall try again! The big remake is on the horizon: The solo sailor sails alone! And what sounds like a bad joke would be nothing more and nothing less than the very last DEFA film. One promises oneself an unsparing exposé, peppered with everything the SED would never have allowed. Rated particularly harmful and super socially divisive! Before the big taps (but then really), it seems that they are going to get down to business once more. This time it's really about sailing. And about women. Eastern women. East German women in DEFA films. Because they were different. They were not concerned with power, money and careers. And they expected far more from love and partnership than equality. And their paths to happiness? Fathomable!

So stay close to the wind and find a firm spot on the shore. Don't fall off. The boat is airy? Hold against it! There you go. Ready to tack?

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With:

Malik Adan, Brigitte Cuvelier, Murat Dikenci, Giannina Erfany-Far, Kerstin Grassmann, Milan Herms, Leonie Jenning, Mara Moya, Paul Rohlfs, Samuel Schneider

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Directed by Jan Koslowski and Hannah Dörr

Stage and Costumes by: Wieland Schönfelder

Dramaturg: Thilo Fischer

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Premiere 21.6.2019, Ballhaus Ost, Berlin
further performances 22., 23.6. as well as 19., 20. and 21.10.2019

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Link: https://www.ballhausost.de/produktionen/die-alleinseglerin-segelt-allein/

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