Mother's Courage - Theatre Day (full play/reduced admission) Nils Klinger Introduction to the play 19:30

George Tabori had a keen sense for wit in the context of horror, for the absurd point in the realm of evil. In "Mother's Courage" he tells the impossible - and true - story of a sixty-year-old Jewish woman who was arrested on the street in Budapest in 1944, deported with 4030 others in cattle cars to Auschwitz, and was the sole survivor. Elsa Tabori lived through it; her son wrote it down.

Since then, the play has become a permanent fixture of oral history - for those who believe that history cannot simply be "left behind". According to a 2015 survey, 81% of Germans would gladly do so regarding the Holocaust. "Of course: Germans will never forgive us Jews for Auschwitz" - so said Israeli psychoanalyst Zwi Rex. Tabori's tribute to his mother is, in a broader sense, a tribute to all mothers whose courage, wit, and will to live gave their children the ability to come to terms with their own trauma.

The production has seen over 170 performances in the past 30 years, including in New York and Los Angeles. Running time: 65 minutes, no intermission. Introduction to the play with Nils Klinger at 19:30. Revival: 17 September 2026 (premiere: 13 September 2025, 20:00). Venue: Zimmertheater Gewölbe, Bursagasse 16, Tübingen.

Direction: Thomas Bockelmann - Set design: Pia Janssen - Costumes: Ursina Zürcher - Music: Erich Radke - Dramaturgy: Michael Volk
Elsa Tabori: Sigrun Schneider-Kaethner - Georg Tabori: Thomas Bockelmann