In the summer of 1938, shortly before the Nazi pogroms, the up-and-coming Berlin poet Mascha Kaléko emigrated to New York. “Amegika!” her “Bengel” cheers on the “moderately good ship Britannic” bound for the States—so Kaléko records it in her diary.
As a Jewish author in exile, economic uncertainty and worries about those left behind mingle with curiosity about this new, exciting place that has so much in common with the Berlin she had to leave behind. While war rages in Europe, Kaléko writes from a foreign home about her experiences in exile, homesickness, and hope—with her unmistakable blend of melancholy and lightheartedness: “The night where fear dwells also has the stars and the moon.” Together with Almut Zilcher and the RZt house band 21 downbeat, a musical and literary exploration of Mascha Kaléko’s years in exile takes shape—between Berlin and New York, loss and new beginnings, longing and hope.
Almut Zilcher, born in Graz, has performed at numerous theaters, including the Deutsches Schauspielhaus and the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, at Schauspiel Frankfurt, at Schauspiel Köln, and at the Berliner Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. Since the 2006/2007 season, she has been a member of the ensemble at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, where she has also appeared on stage with performers from the RZt, with whom she has shared a close theatrical friendship for years.
21 downbeat consists of a rotating cast of actors from the Rambazamba Theater and the composer and musician Leo Solter. Transcending conventional boundaries and expectations, the band members create a completely unique sound based on their own lyrics and poems by contemporary authors. Their debut EP, featuring lyrics by the award-winning author Yoko Tawada, was released in 2021. 21 downbeat has performed at venues including the Pop-Kultur Festival, Mensch Meier, ausland, the Kantine am Berghain, and Fusion.
Hi Freaks is a series of benefit events organized by the RZt. For over 30 years, actors with disabilities have been collaborating here with renowned guests from the German cultural scene to create wild, exciting theater. Old and new friends of the theater are invited to read, act, or make music together with the ensemble. The proceeds are invested in the theater’s infrastructure as well as in the training of new performers.
- Hi Freaks: Almut Zilcher and 21 downbeat
- Under a Foreign Roof: A Musical Reading of Mascha Kaléko’s Exile Literature
Dates
May 2026
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