Jewish theatremaker Anna Clover is bringing her show Going Deutsch to VAULT Festival 2023, Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th February, 6.05pm. The comedy theatre show comes to VAULT Festival after its success in Manchester in 2022, where Clover explores whether she should return to live in Germany by “dating” the country offering her citizenship, despite taking the lives (and passports) of so many who came before her.
After Clover went through a bereavement, Brexit and a bad break up, she decided to make some changes. When she suggested getting back together with her ex, her friends were appalled, and to her surprise, her family felt very much the same way when she jumped into bed with Germany. In Going Deutsch, Clover playfully explores when and if we should forgive and forget, delving into relationships, inherited trauma and diaspora.
Anna Clover said: “I first had the idea for Going Deutsch after Brexit when I discovered I was eligible to receive a German passport as a descendant of victims of Nazi persecution. At that time when multiple friends were reconnecting with their Irish heritages in order to retain EU citizenship, I was so excited and relieved to have a way to hold onto my own strong European identity.
“What I hadn’t anticipated was the range of perspectives others in my family had about taking this passport back and the way they talked about it reminded me of the language around people who return to abusive partners and the idea for Going Deutsch was born.
“Going Deutsch is a show about cultural connection, being part of a diaspora and what we inherit from those who went before.”
Anna Clover is a Jewish artist, theatremaker, improviser and facilitator and the lead artistic facilitator and coordinator for the inclusive young people’s theatre company Hackney Shed. She makes work that asks questions of the world whilst being fun and playful, telling the stories of people who didn’t get to speak their own and making theatre that encourages audiences to ask questions about narratives they have heard before.
