The Mannschaft

«For me, as a Korean, it’s still a simple game: 22 men spend 90 minutes chasing a ball around and in the end the Germans always win,» is the South Korean author Hong-Do Lee’s description of the global phenomenon that is football. The grass pitch becomes the arena for intense feelings, ranging from euphoria to anger, disappointment and grief. The passion of the fans, the collective celebration when a goal is scored, the hopes of extra time and the tears that come after a defeat – these are the great emotions of a sport that connects people around the globe through individuals like the South Korean former Bundesliga hero Bum-kun Cha. Or that does the opposite: dividing them into opposing camps. Here national teams become mirrors of the self-image of the societies that lie behind these teams. And their figureheads. Where else can we exhibit our love of our country is such a direct way?

After winning four World Cup and producing global footballing legends like Franz Beckenbauer, the German men’s football team became «Die Mannschaft» – the team – a title that the DFB, the German Football Union, tried to develop into an advertising brand. «Die Mannschaft» suggests strength and unity – it is a term that promises not only sporting achievement, but also national unity, economic potency and global importance. However, in recent years doubts about this have become louder and louder – and not only when it comes to sport …

South Korean theatre director Kyung-Sung Lee, the founder and director of the Seoul-based theatre company Creative VaQi, which presented the documentary fiction «Borderline» in Seoul and at the Residenztheater in 2020, will develop a documentary and emotional evening based on texts by the playwright Hong-Do Lee that will forge a link between fans in the stadium and in the Marstall.