dear audience, dear friends,

The worldwide chaos has had a huge impact on theatre, particularly on a little festival like Thespis. Rarely before has the theater globe appeared so small and lacking as in these days. Hardly ever have there been so many regions from which it was virtually impossible to invite guests to Kiel safely or at least without countless restrictions. Nevertheless, it was important to us to live up to our 23-year reputation as the first German address for international one-person plays (monodramas) – and especially so this year, to be more precise. Cultural demarcation and exclusion are blatantly spreading on theatre stages, sadly also in our European neighborhood. The tendency to return to the so-called "leading culture (Leitkultur) values" worries everyone interested in seeing the bigger picture and peeking outside one’s own box (which is still mostly pocket-size even now, in the 21st century). Therefore, this year we are even more happy to be able to welcome you, our dear, true, and always curious companions, to this special festival in the time of literal and metaphorical pandemic. More than ever, we owe our thanks to all those who have generously supported us again this year, financially, organizationally and in any other way. We wish you good entertainment.

JOLANTA SUTOWICZ Festival Director | JENS RASCHKE Festival Dramaturg