Play based on the novel of the same name by Janosch
Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theater Görlitz-Zittau in cooperation with the Lubuski Teatr Zielona Góra
In Polish and German
Chlodnitze, a small town in Upper Silesia. Those who have always lived here - Mrs Dziuba and her husband, who are organising a big wedding for their daughter Else, Zwi Bogainski, the half-Jew and bon vivant, the bridegroom Rudolf Mainka and many others - lead a life full of hard work, big parties and heavy drinking. Hrdlak lives among them, a simple day labourer who always remains an outsider. Quietly despised by some, appreciated by others. But: when he touched one of the worst rascals with his hand, he "felt a great happiness, but could not have named it". One day, Hrdlak disappears again, just as unnoticed as he had come.
Von dem Glück, Hrdlak gekannt zu haben is one of three novels by Janosch set in Upper Silesia in the 1930s and 40s. They are full of memories of life, laughter, crying, drinking and celebrations of the people in those villages between Poland and Germany that no longer exist today.
In the border triangle of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, we are staging the novel, which already sought to overcome the border between the countries when it was published and to remind us of what we have in common. Just as three languages met and mingled in the former Silesia, several languages will be spoken in this production and yet everyone will understand what is meant.
