One Can Also Fall Upward: Great stage art at the Young Theater Göttingen

When a life crisis suddenly gets wings

A stroke, writer's block, and a life in constant motion: In One Can Also Fall Upward, the Young Theater Göttingen brings Joachim Meyerhoff's bestseller novel to the stage as a warm-hearted, comedic, and touching play. On November 5, 2026, an exhausted actor and author meets his 86-year-old mother by the Baltic Sea – and finds an unexpected path back to life amid chopping wood, riding a lawnmower, and icy baths.

Between crash, everyday life, and new beginnings

The dramaturgy follows a man in the middle of life, who, after a health setback and a failed restart in Berlin, retreats to his mother. There, he encounters a world full of stubborn routines, physical vigor, and fearless joy of living. From this meeting arises an evening of theater about family, memory, exhaustion, and the remarkable ability to gain new heights even in free fall.

Live radio play meets acting art

Director and set designer Eike Hannemann translates Meyerhoff's autobiographically influenced novel into a multifaceted production. Andrea Seitz, Jens Tramsen, Fynn Knorr, and Malin Kraft switch between precise characterization, comedic timing, and condensed moments of silence. Particularly, the combination of acting, sound, and live radio play gives the stage design its own acoustics: sounds become playing partners, supporting characters emerge from the ensemble, and everyday actions take on a grotesque poetic height.

Comedy with a melancholic echo

The production thrives on its rapid shifts in tone. Absurd situations are followed by moments of great tenderness, loud laughter gives way to quiet realizations. Press reviews highlight the fine wit, warm-hearted melancholy, and the unusual combination of text, light, sound, and stage design. The audience experiences an acting art that does not idealize familial closeness but makes its contradictions visible.

A stage experience full of height

One Can Also Fall Upward combines literary source, contemporary direction, and immediate theater atmosphere. Meyerhoff's perspective on illness, aging, maternal love, and artistic self-doubt becomes a lively evening on stage that entertains and resonates. After the premiere, the production was praised for its ensemble, its grotesque playing moments, and its strong audience impact.

Conclusion: Visitors can expect a play between life crisis and soaring heights, between family comedy and touching self-exploration. Those wishing to experience theater with clever dramaturgy, precise acting, and an extraordinary sound space should discover this evening live at the Young Theater Göttingen.

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• Website: https://www.junges-theater.de/

Sources:

• Young Theater Göttingen – Play information, cast, duration, and prices
• Young Theater Göttingen – Schedule 2026
• Cultural Office Göttingen – Event information
• Cultural Association Holzminden – Production report and audience reactions
• Göttinger Tageblatt – Review of the production