Athens, Linie 1

An extraordinary musical for an audience of all ages, “Linie 1” deals with the life of young people in a large, chaotic, and at the same time enchanting city. A classic work by German writer Volker Ludwig, “Linie 1” is presented in a new production that transports us to Greece of 2017. A pioneer of youth theatre, Sophia Vgenopoulou and her theatre company, Grasshopper Youth, along with a group of actors consisting of teenagers and professional actors, revisit this incredible text in order to shed light on the anguish, desires, and dreams of young people within the social and historical context of contemporary Athens.

“Linie 1” was written in 1986, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, for an innovative Berlin youth theatre company, Grips-Theater; its artistic director was the writer himself, Volker Ludwig. It essentially depicts the coming of age. At the same time, it sketches a whole city, and portrays an entire era. The work deals with the journey of a teenager, who comes from the provinces to West Berlin looking for her beloved.

It is a work that speaks of hope and defeat, dreams and illusions, loneliness and the need of companionship. Sophia Vgenopoulou and Grasshopper Youth keep the main structure of the work and the central idea of the plot. However, they draw on extra material that includes interviews with and confessions of everyday Athenians. In this way, by remodelling the portrayal of characters, this new production reflects on urgent issues of our time, such as the financial crisis, extreme behaviours and tendencies, and the refugee crisis.

The poem “Adolescent Eyes Wide Open” by Giannis Tsirbas was inspired by the song “13 going on 21” by Dead Moon. It was set to music by Alexis Kalofolias.

“Linie 1” by Volker Ludwig and Birger Heymann
© for international productions Felix Bloch Erben, Berlin, 2016 (represented by SKA Agency, Athens/Berlin)