Four people in old-fashioned-looking black clothes are standing in a kitchen table scene where everything is made of wood.

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Luise Voigt artfully stages Bertolt Brecht&rsquo;s alarmingly topical play about armament and pacifism in the aesthetics of a 1930s feature film. Dramatist Bj&ouml;rn SC Deigner has created a sequel, searching for a language for the time-transcending horror of war and destruction.

Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar / Würgendes Blei

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barbara-horvath

Horvath, Barbara

pujan-sadri

Sadri, Pujan

oliver-stokowski

Stokowski, Oliver

volodymyr-melnykov

Melnykov, Volodymyr

naffie-janha

Janha, Naffie

florian-jahr

Jahr, Florian

evelyne-gugolz

Gugolz, Evelyne

ensemble

Ensemble

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Brecht, Bertolt

bjoern-sc-deigner

Deigner, Björn SC

stefan-bischoff

Bischoff, Stefan

tony-de-maeyer

De Maeyer, Tony

maria-strauch

Strauch, Maria

<a href="${link:{uuid:{4a7a8bd2-2fc3-415c-9850-3479f4e9979f},repository:{artists},path:{/bfs-mediathek/V/luise-voigt}}}">Luise Voigt</a>&nbsp;– Director Fabian Wendling&nbsp;– Stage Design Maria Strauch&nbsp;– Costume Design Friederike Bernhardt&nbsp;– Music Tony De Maeyer&nbsp;– Choreography Stefan Bischoff&nbsp;– Video Barbara Westernach&nbsp;– Lighting Design Ewald Palmetshofer&nbsp;– Dramaturgy<h4>Cast</h4>Die Gewehre der Frau CarrarBarbara Horvath&nbsp;– Teresa Carrar, a fisherwoman Pujan Sadri&nbsp;– José, her younger son Oliver Stokowski&nbsp;– Pedro Jaquéras, a worker, brother of Teresa Carrar Volodymyr Melnykov&nbsp;– The wounded man Naffie Janha&nbsp;– Manuela / a linden leaf Florian Jahr&nbsp;– The priest / a machine gun Evelyne Gugolz&nbsp;– Old Mrs PerezW&uuml;rgendes BleiBarbara Horvath&nbsp;– Teresa Carrar Pujan Sadri&nbsp;– José, her remaining son Oliver Stokowski&nbsp;– Pedro Jaquéras, a worker, brother of Teresa Carrar Florian Jahr&nbsp;– A machine gun Naffie Janha&nbsp;– A linden leaf Ensemble&nbsp;– A chorus who can play anyone except Teresa Carrar

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Voigt, Luise

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Palmetshofer, Ewald

barbara-westernach

Westernach, Barbara

friederike-bernhardt

Bernhardt, Friederike

fabian-wendling

Wendling, Fabian

Luise Voigt artfully stages Bertolt Brecht’s alarmingly topical play about armament and pacifism in the aesthetics of a 1930s feature film. Dramatist Bj&ouml;rn SC Deigner has created a sequel, searching for a language for the time-transcending horror of war and destruction.

Mrs Carrar is a pacifist and believes that she can protect her sons from the violence of the Spanish Civil War by forbidding them to join the fight against Franco and the fascists. But a fatal event leads her to taking up arms herself. Luise Voigt transposes &ldquo;Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar&rdquo; into the setting of a 1930s feature film and develops Brecht&rsquo;s principle of alienation further with elaborate sound and visual effects &ndash; only to have it all collapse. Brecht himself had noted that his play &ndash; which premiered in 1937 and has distressing resonances today &ndash; might be presented together with a documentary film. Instead, Luise Voigt&rsquo;s &ldquo;Carrar&rdquo;-staging is followed by a second part: At the centre of the sequel &ldquo;W&uuml;rgendes Blei&rdquo; by Bj&ouml;rn SC Deigner &ndash; who sees theatre as a place for negotiation, for demands and for instigation &ndash; are the specific consequences for those who go to war. The combination of both parts results in a focused, score-like show that asks whether neutrality is even possible in the face of a violent attack.&nbsp;

<h3>Statement of the Jury</h3>

Do weapons bring about peace or just more war? Bertolt Brecht&rsquo;s &ldquo;Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar&rdquo; (Se&ntilde;ora Carrar&rsquo;s Rifles), first staged by German refugees in Paris in 1937, is the play of the hour. Mrs Carrar wants to save her sons&rsquo; lives and therefore initially takes a rigorous pacifist stance. This rarely performed play about the Spanish civil war hits home like a hammer today. Luise Voigt stages it in the aesthetics of a 1930s movie: The set shimmers, the sound rustles and crackles and the landscape outside the window appears as expressionistic as a paper cut-out. Afterwards, Bj&ouml;rn SC Deigner&rsquo;s &ldquo;W&uuml;rgendes Blei&rdquo; (Choking Lead) begins on the ruins of the past &ndash; as a piece for Mrs Carrar, a linden leaf, a machine gun and a chorus, as a religious service for the return of the ever identical horrors of war. How to escape this vicious circle?

<a href="https://mediathek.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/theatertreffen/2025/statement-die-gewehre-der-frau-carrar-wuergendes-blei">To juror Valeria Heintges&rsquo; video statement on &ldquo;Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar / W&uuml;rgendes Blei&rdquo; (in German)</a>

<a href="${link:{uuid:{741f5628-8fe8-49a6-9b58-b15f9212081a},repository:{dam},path:{/bfs-de/indizierte-pdfs/DE/Theatertreffen/2025/tt25_programmheft_die_gewehre_der_frau_carrar.pdf}}}">Programme Booklet</a>&nbsp;(pdf, 0.17 MB)

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