OTHER THAN WE

a new play by Karen Malpede

translated from American English into German by Henning Bochert

In the wake of the climate apocalypse,
four rebels enact a daring plan
to give birth to something new –
to beings other than we.

George Bartenieff und Lisa Birnbaum

A New York Times Critics’ Pick for “Theater This Season,” Fall 2019

Obstetrician Michelle and neuroscientist Eve are among the privileged to live unter “the Dome”, the only place on the otherwise uninhabitible planet where life is possible, albeit only for a chosen few – and under gruesome conditions. The human species being endangered, women have become birth machines. Life declared unfit is instantly made into food. Together with Tanaka – who came from “far from here” and was only admitted to measure the radiation in his bones – the women develop a method to prenatally create cortical connections to facilitate the leap to a higher evolutionary level on which “heart and mind” are connected and made one. With Opa, Eve’s grandfather, they escape the Dome and, in nature struggling to regain its balance, they sacrifice themselves to give birth to these creatures of a new, higher species and thus literally save the future.

Her characters are strong and fascinating, her contexts brilliant and horrifying, and her tone always warm and, in the end, loving.

– Andrew Solomon, Ex-Vorsitzender des PEN American Centers

A utopian vision for a reconfigured race that will be “Other Than We” – hybrid creatures, human/non-human that will adapt and sustain themselves in the treacherous territory outside of The Dome. Malpede uses image-rich language and striking stage pictures to transmit an urgent call for global unity, imagination, transformation, and action.

– Cindy Rosenthal, The Theatre Times

Wild, fun, and unnerving.

— Andrew Revkin, science and environmental journalist

A playful but powerful meditation on urgent philosophical questions . . . consciousness, language, evolution, life and death.

– Jo Mispel, Motherhood Later

Simultaneously unsettling, surreal and hopeful . . . a post-apocalyptic scenario in which survivors have a chance to remake the world . . . a grand vision, born of catastrophe, but with the possibility of triumph.

– Eleanor Bader, The Indypendent

It questions the origins of consciousness and thrives on the thrill of creating a better human species . . . Can the quartet of fugitives accomplish their outlandish goal?

– Lena Zeldovitch, Woman Around Town

Karen Malpede

For decades, and after 19 plays, the US American eco-feminist Karen Malpede is a renowned playwright/director in US theatre. In 1995, together with her partner and actor George Bartenieff, she founded the Theater Three Collaborative to be able to produce plays that would otherwise not be produced because of their social justice themes. Her most recent play Extreme Whether for example shows how scientists desperately fight for telling the truth about climate change against the oil industry’s resistance, while her earlier play Another Life deals with the U. S. torture program. In her entire work, she deals with social-political aspects, feminism, climate, and environment. She teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York City).