Übungen für eine mögliche Rückkehr

EXERCISES FOR A POSSIBLE RETURN is both a personal and political exploration of what it means to return, after years of exile, to a homeland scarred by war. Two years after the fall of the Syrian regime and ten years after founding their “theatre in exile”, Collective Ma’louba is confronted with a reality that long seemed unimaginable: the possibility of returning.

Amid music, memories and shared rituals, four people meet on stage. They debate, disagree, reconcile, and share both hopes and doubts. Autobiographical experiences, documentary material and fictional narratives combine to create a multilayered piece of theatre about home, identity and the question of who gets to decide what return means.

Each member of the ensemble brings their own story – of longing for Damascus, the traces of displacement and a life built elsewhere. Through precise observation, subtle humour and psychological depth, the piece offers an intense reflection on loss, belonging and new beginnings.

Following the international success of THE LONG SHADOW OF ALOIS BRUNNER – premiered at euro-scene Leipzig in 2023 – Collective Ma’louba continues its artistic engagement with flight, exile and memory. The ensemble is one of the most important Syrian theatre collectives in exile, combining documentary theatre with a range of dramaturgical forms. EXERCISES FOR A POSSIBLE RETURN is not only about Syria, but about the search for a home between memory and the present – and the realisation that returning is never only about a place, but always about one’s own identity as well.