nomad theatre ensemble

WORLD PREMIERE
“Dad and Mom—A Family Story” by Marie-Elisabeth Lüdde
A project by the nomad theater ensemble
Starring: Stefanie Friedrich | Gundi-Anna Schick | Klaus Gramüller | Jonathan Peller
Directed by: Daniel Klumpp | Set Design: Katharina Müller | Lighting Design: Alexander Joseph
Premiere: Wed, Jan. 29, 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Additional Performances:
Thu, Jan. 30, 2025 | Fri, Jan. 31, 2025 | Sat, Feb. 1, 2025 | Sun, Feb. 2, 2025 – 7:30 p.m. each day
(Post-performance discussion on Thu/Fri/Sat)

Dad and Mom hit their children. “Mom hits them with a wooden spoon. Dad hits them with the
carpet beater.” Mom and Dad rely on *The German Mother and Her First Child*. This
guidebook by Nazi parenting icon Johanna Haarer, first published in 1934, remained, tragically, a bestseller until
the 1980s and shaped the childhoods of millions of German children.
Marie-Elisabeth Lüdde recounts how this played out in practice. She draws on two
parenting diaries she found in her parents’ estate. Mom and Dad documented their spanking sprees
in writing. Through numerous quotations, the author weaves these scandalous diaries into
her own narrative. To trace the roots of the violence, she also outlines
her parents’ backstory. A panorama of 20th-century Germany unfolds.
A powerful voice in the culture of remembrance.