Das Kraftwerk - Ein Theaterabend über Kohle, Wasser und die Ewigkeit

In the organizer's words:

In the research play "Das Kraftwerk - Ein Theaterabend über Kohle, Wasser und die Ewigkeit" (The Power Plant - An Evening of Theater about Coal, Water and Eternity), the Cottbus State Theatre's drama department takes an in-depth look at the topics of the energy supply of the future, water scarcity and structural change.

Based on his conviction that storytelling from the theater can touch people, change perspectives and make understanding possible, the author Calle Fuhr regularly works together with journalistic collectives to prepare current topics for the stage. This is how he developed "Das Kraftwerk - Ein Theaterabend über Kohle, Wasser und die Ewigkeit" from the journalistic research of CORRECTIV's investigative editorial team. In collaboration with CORRECTIV, a research piece for and about Cottbus has been created that takes a multi-perspective look at the complex issues surrounding the energy supply of the future.

"Das Kraftwerk - Ein Theaterabend über Kohle, Wasser und die Ewigkeit" tells a Cottbus story about five characters who face the opportunities and challenges of structural change in very different ways.

After the death of her grandfather, the young journalist Carla returns to her hometown of Cottbus. She is to inherit a small house by the Baltic Sea. When she enters the house, she finds a folder labeled "Kraftwerk - für Carla". It contains piles of documents with information about the company LEAG, Vattenfall, the Jänschwalde power plant, the Baltic Sea and the gigawatt factory.

As Carla begins to delve deeper into the documents, she meets very different people. She meets her grandfather's neighbor, a former activist whose home has already been dredged twice. Her son's friend is fighting for a green future for LEAG. His boss, on the other hand, is worried about security of supply in the event of a coal phase-out.

This exciting story about the coal industry and its future is about alternatives and utopias, political and legal hurdles, lobbying and the opportunities and failures of joint talks.

CORRECTIV.Klima has been researching the state of Germany's water for more than a year. One thing is clear: the supply is at risk in some regions. Some districts and municipalities are already having to restrict how much water citizens are allowed to draw. What does it mean for agriculture, industry and all of us that we are already experiencing the fifth year of drought in a row?

Water can also become scarce in Brandenburg. When thousands of groundwater measurement series were evaluated across Germany last year, Brandenburg was one of the regions with the most extreme trends. Groundwater levels have been falling at almost every third measuring point evaluated since 1990. Coal mining is having a massive impact on the landscape and water balance. Even after the coal phase-out, the region will have to be renaturalized for decades in order to restore the damaged ecosystems to a viable state. But who is actually in charge when it comes to water in Brandenburg - and who is putting the brakes on necessary measures?

CORRECTIV accompanied the production right up to the premiere day with ongoing research.