Thursday, 3/19/2026
at 8:00 PM



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Can music be measured? Is its effect predictable? Can it change our political consciousness? The culture officials of the GDR believed: yes! 66 years ago, they held the "first dance music conference" in the Lusatian industrial metropolis of Lauchhammer – to reinvent the sound of socialism...

Janette Mickan (Berlin Theater Collective LUNATIKS) and Lothar Berndorff (A Hit is a Hit) have researched the long-lost files of this absurd-sounding conference in the archive of the Academy of Arts Berlin, evaluated them, and transformed them into a play about the connection between political consciousness and popular culture. In 2025, the LAUCHHAMMER FILES will be on stage for the first time. In a documentary-fictional reconstruction, historical figures meet the reality of today. A live band will play the sound of Lauchhammer and test its functionality in direct exchange with the audience.

DIE LAUCHHAMMER FILES dare to experiment with the thought: What could such a conference trigger today? And what responsibility do artists have in a democracy under pressure? A spirited study of pop, politics, and the impact of music.

This second collaboration between author and director Janette Mickan and author and historian Lothar Berndorff follows a production about the West German Schlager of the 1950s and the emergence of the West German music industry, which premiered in 2022 at the "Heimathafen Berlin".

On Saturday, September 19, 2025, there will be SCHWOOF & THEATER following the performance in collaboration with Berlin Bühnen.

CAST Christine Rollar / Judith Florence Ehrhardt / Johannes Moss / Thomas Pasieka CAST FILM Lorenz Liebold PRODUCTION FILM filmgestalten (Manuel Kinzer) KEYS Karl Neukauf BASS Paula Wünsch DRUMS Gunnar Berndorff GUITAR Hans Rohe CHOREOGRAPHY Eleonora M. Talamini CONCEPTION / TEXT / DIRECTION Janette Mickan CONCEPTION / TEXT / MUSIC DIRECTION Lothar Berndorff STAGE / GRAPHICS Dunja Berndorff COSTUME Kathrin Mickan LIGHT DESIGN David Ojala OUTSIDE EYE / FINAL DIRECTION Hanna Müller PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Julia zur Lippe ASSISTANCE Philipp Hardy-Lau MAKEUP Luisa Liebe PRODUCTION LUNATIKS / Berndorff-Mickan Ltd CO-PRODUCTION TD Berlin FUNDING Supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds / Fonds Darstellende Künste - Research Funding 2024

LUNATIKS is a theater label founded in 2002 in Berlin. The focus is on current societal phenomena, historical subjects, and the captivating biographies of people. The starting point for the emerging theater formats are extensive collectively organized research and discussions with stakeholders and experts. LUNATIKS seek out dense content with a swarm dramaturgy and explore themes and methods for theater through various approaches and ever new collaborations. http://www.lunatiks.de

DR. LOTHAR BERNDORFF works as a freelance historian in Berlin focusing on the interrelationships between art, music, and the city. His projects include the pop-historical show series “A Hit is a Hit” and the art project “Institute for Lost Places of Amusement” (ILPA). He has organized various events with artists from the fields of visual and performing arts, music, and science, including the Bowienale at the Berlinale, the Corona project “Museum of Live Music” (MOLM) at the Haus der Statistik, and the “Hansa Heroes” in the Meistersaal.

Event data provided by: Reservix

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