About the work
Bu sözler bizim – Die Worte gehören uns (The Words Belong to Us) is a play by Yade Yasemin Önder for young audiences aged ten and up, whose text moves fluidly between German and Turkish. Under the shorter title Die Worte gehören uns it was nominated for the Heidelberger Stückemarkt playwriting prize in 2020. In 2024 the Wiener Wortstätten gave it the exil-Dramatiker*innenpreis, which comes with a world premiere at Schauspiel Leipzig; the premiere took place there in the Diskothek studio on 17 April 2026, directed by Ebru Tartıcı Borchers.
Plot
Almost ten years old, Lale lives with her brother Lilo and their parents somewhere in Germany and struggles with her mother's language, whose words simply will not stay in her head. Their mother used to work as a journalist in Istanbul and Ankara but is no longer allowed to write. When she disappears without a trace one day, the siblings set off at once to find her, travelling through a sea of letters and flying right across Europe on the living-room couch, which has come to life.
Cultural significance
The play links questions of linguistic identity, home and the relationship between generations with press freedom and political activism, and it is written for a multilingual ensemble. The Leipzig premiere was reviewed by outlets including the Leipziger Volkszeitung and MDR Kultur, and a second production followed at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as early as 7 June 2026.