About the work
Ich bin wie ihr, ich liebe Äpfel is a comedy by German playwright Theresia Walser that premiered on 12 January 2013 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, directed by Burkhard C. Kosminski. Walser wrote the play during her tenure as the theatre's resident playwright; its title is drawn from a line of poetry by the Libyan politician Muammar Gaddafi.
Plot
Three deposed widows of former dictators meet shortly before a joint press conference at which they intend to announce a planned film about their lives. An interpreter mediates between the women as cracks begin to show beneath their nonchalant recollections of privilege and power. In the end, they agree that their story deserves an opera rather than a film.
Cultural significance
The play is among Walser's most widely performed works, has been translated into numerous languages and has been staged at many theatres in German-speaking countries and abroad since its premiere.