After twelve years, a young man returns to his family. During that time, he had given no word of himself, whilst he successfully established himself as an artist in the big city and, in his heart and mind, drifted ever further away from his family in the small town. And now? Is a reunion still possible?

Will the years of no contact soften or harden their judgements of one another? Will the years spent together carry more weight than the years spent apart?

Together with his ensemble, director Christopher Rüping delves right into the drama of family life. *Simply the End of the World* is the first part of Christopher Rüping’s family trilogy, in which he, together with his respective ensemble, examines the concept of the family in the 21st century across three independent productions – without any claim to completeness.

The second part of the family trilogy, *Breasts and Eggs*, based on Mieko Kawakami’s novel, premiered in 2022 at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg.

The third part, *Grief Is the Thing with Feathers* by Max Porter, will run from March 2024 at the Schauspielhaus Bochum

The production *Simply the End of the World* is a transfer from the Schauspielhaus Zürich and has received numerous awards:

an invitation to the 58th Berlin Theatertreffen, the title of ‘Production of the Year 2021’, and the 2021 Nestroy Prize for the best German-language production.

The ensemble was also celebrated:

Benjamin Lillie was honoured as Actor of the Year 2021, and Maja Beckmann as Actress of the Year 2021. With Corinna Harfouch in the role of the mother, the production – revised for the DT – will be staged in Berlin for the first time.

Additional information

Participating artists

Christopher Rüping

Matze Pröllochs

Maja Beckmann

Corinna Harfouch

Nils Kahnwald

Benjamin Lillie

Wiebke Mollenhauer

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