Wolfserwartungsland

There used to be so many houses here; some are still standing, others have collapsed or been burned down. Trees are growing everywhere. People used to dream of social advancement, of economic expansion, they got carried away by ideas and made plans, daydreamed. But not everything is meant for maximisation. Not everything becomes large. That’s all I know. Or maybe this, too: People are disappearing in peculiar ways.

“Wolfserwartungsland” is a German term for regions with favourable conditions for the resettlement of wolves. Such an economically underdeveloped region is the meeting place for a handful of characters who have all seen better days – just like the remote hotel where they meet in. But in contrast to the wolf who has wandered wide distances to cross into this territory, a creature fraught with danger and longing which they dream of vanquishing, these characters are stranded in a place that seems to know no exterior world. They maintain grand visions for the future which, just like their relationships, seem to feed mainly on clichés. Secretly, perhaps they have already realised that their great expectations will probably never become reality. Two strangers from the imaginary great wide world enter this stagnancy-ridden place and become beacons of hope. Or are they spirits from a repressed past? 

With its specific location and precisely sketched characters, “Wolfserwartungsland” lures us onto a false track of realism, which quite unexpectedly opens up to reveal surreal, nightmarishly funny abysses. An inn with no guests in a forest where all hope ends. This is the first play by Florian Wacker, who studied at Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig. His texts have been published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines. His first novel, “Dahlenberger”, received the 2015 Oldenburg Prize for Books for Children and Young People.

Director Gordon Kämmerer studied acting in Leipzig and directing at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” in Berlin. He directed the world premiere of Nolte Decar’s “Das Tierreich” in Leipzig and the production was presented at the 2015 Heidelberger Stückemarkt and the Munich radikal jung-festival. Other works in Leipzig include the world premiere of “der herzerlfresser” by Ferdinand Schmalz (2015) and “Die Räuber” by Friedrich Schiller (2016).