Milch und Kohle

Photos by Birgit Hupfeld

The Ruhr area in the 1960s: People who deny their past and pull the rug out from under themselves.

"You can recognize those who are truly grieving by their humor."
Ralf Rothmann finds words for the speechlessness of a generation weighed down by the past. A fragile world in which people long for a little prosperity and peace. Families of diverse cultures, languages, and histories live together in close quarters, both above and below ground.

Without passing judgment Rothmann creates a cosmos of fractures—mountain-like cracks that run through houses and bodies. The Ruhr region as the driving force of Germany’s economic growth, and the bitter aftertaste of a generation whose traumas have only been given a voice by the next genertation.

"Maike Bouschen impressively brings Ralf Rothmann’s Ruhr-region novel Milch und Kohle to the stage at Theater Oberhausen in a completely different way… A highlight of the production is the inserted speaking and movement chorus of young women, who react to and comment on the action with brief interjections. The result is an intense, almost classical piece of attempted confrontation with the past." Klaus Stübler, Ruhr Nachrichten

"When they are not acting, they climb the poles, entangle themselves, hang upside down. A cage that lets no one escape. A cage for the art-figures." Sarah Heppekausen, Nachtkritik

"First, Tim Weckenbrock, as Simon, elicits a few tentative 'Oberhausen' chants from the audience in the sold-out Großes Haus of the theater—then he lashes out against the 'desolate' city: 'A reverse image of the exploitation carried out beneath it, in the seams—a metropolis of unculture.' This, however, is impressively contradicted by the darkly shining premiere of Milch und Kohle. Ralf Rothmann himself was present and applauded an oversized ensemble performance—and his 'alter ego' Simon—from the stage." Ralph Wilms, WAZ

Premiere: 20 September 2024
Theater Oberhausen

Version: Till Beckmann und Maike Bouschen
Direction: Maike Bouschen
Set design: Franziska Isensee
Music: Lutz Gallmeister 
Dramaturgy: Laura Mangels 
Lighting: Alexandra Sommerkorn
Collaboration with choir: Mattia Cedric Meier
Actors: Tim Weckenbrock, Susanne Burkhard, Jens Schnarre, Daniel Rothaug, Philipp Quest, David Lau, Klaus Zwick, Torsten Bauer
Choir: Gizem Aliusta, Hürrem Balaban, Sevda Beser Cidal, Frieda Becker, Lisa Brandenberg, Jorid Disteldorf, Manuela Dost, Sarah Grebe, Sophie Köller, Andrea Wilming