Das halbe Meer

An island lies in the void of the ocean, halfway between two continents. For centuries, it has been re-discovered, re-conquered, and re-settled, only to fall back into oblivion, again and again. For the last 30 years, a small and close-knit community has settled here, living by its own laws: Each one here is equal to the other, everyone shares everything. This foundation held strong for a long time but now the cracks become apparent. Within, the younger generation begins to doubt the strict set of rules, and from the outside, fewer and fewer merchant ships arrive, which had secured the peace by securing supplies. One day, a stranger washes up on the beach, and the delicate balance finally tips over – war breaks out over money, power, and wealth.

“Thomas Freyer is one of the few strong contemporary writers, who dares to take on utopias ... In One Half Ocean he tests them for their sustainability, with fatal results. There are no islands of paradisiacal coexistence … humans don’t change simply by being transported to a pristine place and into a presumably primordial state. Consequently, they remain very diverse and controversial. And thus, dialectics remain the only hope of this play which ends somberly … It is actually a simple narrative of multiple grand topics. A parable of the failure of the collective which would have to prove itself when the clamp of prosperity breaks off.” (Theater der Zeit)