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DRAMA

The Little House

by Duncan Macmillan, starring Jonny Donahoe
Directed by Klaus Schumacher
Starring: Susanne Schrader

Is life worth living for its own sake? Yes! It begins with a mother who has attempted suicide because she doesn’t know what makes life worth living. Her young daughter makes a list of everything that makes life worth living: 1. Ice cream. 5. Striped things. 1008. Dancing at home… A list of all the beautiful things in life, serving as an antidepressant for the mother. She hopes her daughter will actually read it (and not just correct the spelling mistakes), that her depression will end, and that life will go on. That is the core of Duncan Macmillan’s play; the list keeps getting longer, eventually reaching a million items. When the daughter herself grows up, a strange sadness lurks there time and again, threatening to take hold, but the list also grows and accompanies her through life’s highs and lows. “All the Beautiful Things” describes all the beauty that surrounds us every day, while taking a humorous approach to the topic of depression. An evening that generates both tension and warmth, one that is highly political because it portrays people in their weaknesses, shows how important it is to look out for one another, and reminds us of what makes life worth living.