About the work
“Tag und Nacht” is a new play by Roland Schimmelpfennig, one of the most frequently performed contemporary German-language playwrights. Its world premiere is scheduled for 27 September 2026 at Schauspiel Köln, directed by Lily Sykes in the Erfrischungsraum and on the forestage of the Schauspielhaus at Offenbachplatz; the performing rights are handled by S. Fischer Theater & Medien. The play is built with strict symmetry: two brothers, two partners, two couples, one in the city and one in the country.
Plot
The brothers Erik and Martin have not been in touch for years. Erik is an actor whose countless performances as Puss in Boots have made him a local celebrity and a heavy drinker. Martin lives in the country and has been stuck for years on his text “Die Landmaus und die Stadtmaus” (The Country Mouse and the City Mouse), a fable with political ambitions. Their partners, Lisa and Astrid, both long for a different life. When the couples turn up at each other’s homes unannounced, it emerges that political differences once drove the brothers apart – and in the end every pairing and boundary dissolves into general chaos.
Cultural significance
Schimmelpfennig, whose plays are performed in more than 40 countries, wrote one of the three world premieres with which Schauspiel Köln opens its first season after returning to Offenbachplatz in September 2026. The play combines absurd comedy with the question of how political division reaches into families.