About the work
Dirk Laucke's breakthrough play was premiered on 27 January 2007 at the Städtische Bühnen Osnabrück, directed by Henning Bock, and was subsequently invited to the Stückemarkt of the 2007 Berlin Theatertreffen. For this work Laucke had already received the Kleist Promotional Prize for Young Dramatists in 2006. A celebrated Thalia Theater production followed in 2008 under David Bösch. Set in the Mansfeld region, the play is regarded as a landmark contribution to East German contemporary theatre of the post-reunification generation.
Plot
Schorse, Boxer and Paul work in the Mansfeld region for a beverage wholesaler — hauling crates without permanent contracts, for a pittance, dismissible at any time. Schorse is divorced; his ex-wife Karin denies him contact with their son. Boxer lives withdrawn, spending his nights in front of TV strip shows. Paul is one day supposed to take over his father's beverage depot. One morning the three of them snap. Instead of going to work, they set off in Schorse's old dark-blue Ford Escort, scoop up Schorse's son straight from his way to school, and head for Legoland — the plastic promise of freedom. AC/DC from the speakers, cheap beer on the back seat. The escape ends at a deserted petrol station in the middle of nowhere — the car wrecked, the men drunk, the child alive only by chance.
Cultural significance
alter ford escort dunkelblau became a manifesto of a young East German playwriting that rediscovered the former industrial region between Halle and Eisleben as a literary space. The reviewer for the taz compared Laucke to Fritz Kater — both describe how reunification still works subconsciously to this day. The play was nominated for the Mülheim Dramatists' Prize in 2008 and translated into several languages. An award-winning radio play based on the material was produced by MDR in 2008. The laconic language, the rhythm of everyday life and despair, and the precision of its East German provincial gaze make the work a staple of young drama to this day.