The grass keeps growing again and again.

An Indefatigability with Texts and Songs by Gerhard Gundermann

Even if one doesn't know much about Gerhard Gundermann, one often at least knows this: that he was a songwriter and at the same time a digger operator in open-pit coal mining. He himself could hardly come to terms with being presented this way. "What fundamentally falls short," he once said in an interview, "is the image of the singing, ringing digger operator. I'm not a showcase proletarian. People come to hear songs. It doesn't matter whether I'm pulling teeth or baking rolls. My songs won't get any better from lignite." Gundermann was also not someone who could be captured with overly simple descriptions. He was a maverick who caused headaches for SED functionaries, but also an unofficial collaborator who spied on his friends for the Stasi with great commitment. After the reunification, he became an environmental activist and simultaneously wrote wonderfully melancholic songs about mine closures.

Further information: Website Staatstheater Cottbus