{"id":22003,"date":"2025-09-30T15:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neukoellneroper.de\/?post_type=play&p=22003"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:56:02","slug":"der-zweite-kirschgarten","status":"publish","type":"play","link":"https:\/\/www.neukoellneroper.de\/en\/performance\/der-zweite-kirschgarten\/","title":{"rendered":"Der zweite Kirschgarten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Eine
\u00a9 Murat Aslan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cherry orchard is for sale! So, the second cherry orchard \u2013 here and now in Germany, 2025. This seems to be a good time for the whole family to come together once more, as so many memories are tied to it. But also to the first orchard, which stood in Namibia. It was planted by the great-grandfather who, as a colonialist, didn\u2019t want to go without his Black Forest cherry cake. Varja is 37 and that happened before her time. Even her adoptive mother Andrea only knows the story from family lore, and her adoptive sister Anja, barely 20, wants nothing to do with it, rather focusing on her main goal: achieving an ideal work\/life balance. Yet there are far more pressing matters at hand, like saving the crumbling family business, a burden that rests entirely on Varja\u2019s shoulders. When Uncle Gerald, Andrea\u2019s tenant Trofimov and Varja\u2019s foster sister Lolo join the gathering, the stage is set for an emotionally charged family reunion\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

For their new musical, author Martin G. Berger and composer Wolfgang B\u00f6hmer use Chekhov\u2019s classic as a starting point to explore contemporary sociopolitical questions around ownership, inheritance, guilt, and generational justice. In doing so, they shy away neither from wit nor complexity. B\u00f6hmer leads the audience into a soundscape that shifts between shimmering tones and jazzy-chanson textures, featuring piano, double bass, bayan (an Eastern European accordion), and wind instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Alexandra Liedtke \u2013 who staged DADDY UNPLUGGED at Neuk\u00f6llner Oper in 2024 \u2013 once again brings out the human and interpersonal layers of the characters in all their complexity, revealing what remains unsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

DIRECTION<\/strong> Alexandra Liedtke MUSICAL DIRECTION<\/strong> Magnus Loddgard, Julius Windisch CHOREOGRAPHY<\/strong> Paul Blackman DRAMATURGY<\/strong> Dennis Depta SET DESIGN<\/strong> Philip Rubner ASSISTANT DIRECTOR \/ PRODUCTION MANAGER<\/strong><\/strong> Cara Freitag<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WITH <\/strong>Tina Ajala, Samuel Franco, Laura Goblirsch, Julia Klotz \/ Claudia Renner, Vasiliki Roussi \/ Franziska Junge, Markus Sch\u00f6ttl as well as the musicians Nikolaus Neuser, Valentin Butt \/ Sanja Mlinaric, Rebecca Lawrence \/ Rosie Salvucci, Magnus Loddgard \/ Julius Windisch, Abigail Sanders and Christian Vogel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

PREMIERE <\/strong>18 December 2025 DURATION <\/strong>2 hours, with a break
LANGUAGE <\/strong>German <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
\u00a9 Peter van Heesen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n