Wir haben keine andre Zeit als diese

Berlin in the late 1920s—the city has transformed into a modern metropolis that is home to an artistic avant-garde championing freedom, diversity, and tolerance. At the same time, democracy is teetering on the brink: in a society marked by crises and poverty, segments of the population are becoming increasingly radicalized, and the National Socialists are gaining power.

Against this backdrop, the Jewish poet Mascha Kaléko tries to find her place. With her poems, which capture everyday life and the people of Berlin like photographs, she writes her way out of her monotonous office and into the heart of Berlin’s literary scene, the Romanisches Café. But how does one hold one’s ground in a society that is increasingly turning against one’s own convictions and way of life? Mascha Kaléko, whose life is marked by upheaval, must make difficult decisions about her life and love during these years of unrest and violence. 

The production was created as part of the youth club program for the 2025/26 season. It was inspired by poems, letters, and diary entries by Mascha Kaléko. The young actors developed all the roles in the play based on characters found in the poems and wrote many of the texts and dialogues themselves. The title “We Have No Other Time Than This” is based on a poem of the same name by Kaléko.