Bernhard’s mother has passed away. What sounds ordinary quickly escalates into a significant problem. You see, Bernhard’s mother was Jewish, but she was married to a Christian man who saved her life during the Third Reich. Her final and unwavering wish is to be buried beside him in the city cemetery according to her faith. Naturally, Bernhard wants to fulfill his mother’s wish, but it’s not as simple as it seems. It’s forbidden for a rabbi to bury someone in a Christian cemetery, and a priest is prohibited from performing Jewish rites.

And so, a race against time begins because, according to Jewish tradition, a deceased person must be buried promptly. Bernhard’s cousin, along with his wife and their daughter, fly in from Israel, and they attempt to solve the problem, sometimes working against each other rather than together. To complicate matters further, there’s a Palestinian kiosk owner who may or may not make things easier. After four tumultuous days filled with flashes of the past and characters wrangling with paradoxes („A Jew turns a problem into a joke, a German turns a joke into a problem“), and after bizarre, strange, and thought-provoking encounters in funeral homes and cemeteries with rabbis, priests, and the Palestinian, they finally resolve the absurd conflict.

Written by Lothar Schöne

Directed by Sewan Latchinian

Music by Emanuel Meshvinski

With Franz-Joseph Dieken, Riccardo Ferreira, Markus Majowski/Stephan Möller-Titel, Raika Nicolai, Antje Otterson, Helen Schneider, Leo Strelle and Corinna Harfouch

Premiere: 19.09.2021

Shows 2021-2023

more infos: https://hamburger-kammerspiele.de/programm/der-koschere-himmel/