Tage aus Glas

In 1901, the furnaces of the world’s largest glassworks in Gerresheim were on the verge of being shut down: the workers were striking for better pay and dignity, whilst others profited from ownership of the factory. At the heart of »Tage aus Glas« are Bille, the daughter of a glassworker, and Leonie, the daughter of the factory doctor. Their different worlds reflect the class relations of the time. The new production by the theatre collective Pièrre.Vers, led by director Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen, links the history of the Gerresheim strike with contemporary questions of social participation, ownership and class struggle from the perspective of the two women. The play takes the audience on a journey through time around the site of the former glassworks, an industrial wasteland caught between the past and the future. Amid listed brick buildings, open spaces and new construction projects, the stories of Bille, Leonie and the glassworks – which still shapes Gerresheim – intertwine. In times of economic growth pressures, digitalisation and technological transformation, what has changed in the relationship between those who live from wage labour and those who profit from wealth? The literary basis for the theatre tour »Tage aus Glas« is the eponymous debut novel by Dorothee Krings, published in 2025 by HarperCollins.

The theatre collective Pièrre.Vers from Düsseldorf is one of the most renowned independent theatre groups in the country and is known beyond the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia for its documentary theatre. The group develops immersive projects in public spaces or at historically significant locations, where issues relevant to global society are explored using the microcosm of the city as an example.

In her debut novel »Tage aus Glas«, Dorothee Krings (* 1973 in Mönchengladbach) combines historical research with a multi-layered narrative about class, background and self-determination.

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From the play’s text:

»Work will consume you. It is already gnawing at you and consuming your body. But you don’t notice it. You don’t want to see it. And you know what? That is exactly what the fine gentlemen at the factory are counting on – the ones who fob you off with meagre wages and convince the world that this is how it has to be. That this is the eternal order of things.«

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