Kristof Magnusson (born in 1976 in Hamburg) is a writer, playwright and translator of Icelandic-German origin, living and working in Berlin. After his training as a church musician he studied creative writing at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig, University of Leipzig, and playwriting at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, as well as Icelandic literature at the University of Reykjavík. His works include not only novels and plays but also short stories and reportages published in German and foreign newspapers. He has translated many Icelandic texts into German. He was a writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa (2008), the Queen Mary University of London (2013), at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2014), and a resident of several translators’ houses.
He began his literary career in 2000 with his original theatre project Enge im Haus und im Sarg which was followed by the play Der totale Kick in 2001. In 2002 he finished a comedy Men’s Daycare (Männerhort, 2002). His first novel At Home (Zuhause) was published in 2005. This was followed by a novel That Was Not Me (Das war ich nicht, 2010) and Doctor Novel (Arztroman, 2014). Both were adapted for stage and directed by Ronny Jakubaschk. In 2010 Magnusson wrote a comedy Sushi for All (Sushi für alle). He is the recipient of many awards and prizes for his writing, invariably characterized by humour, light-heartedness and fun.
First staged in 2003 at the Schauspiel Bonn Theater, it was Men’s Daycare that brought Magnusson world fame. It became a cult box-office hit overnight. Since then it has been staged by more than 80 theatres all over Europe (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia ...), as well as in Turkey. In 2014 it was made into a film with the same title.
Men hate shopping! There is nothing worse than to be stuck in a shopping centre on Saturday, accompanying one’s wife and encouraging her shopping spree and to give advice which shade of a blouse or trousers she should definitely buy, and whether to go for shoes with a buckle or without. This is why the three male friends clandestinely sneak out on their wives every Saturday to seek shelter in a shopping centre basement. This becomes their cave in which they feel at ease to do their »male« stuff while their wives shop-until-they-drop. Their »male« routines include lying on the couch, drinking beer, watching football and bitching about their wives. This male idyll is disturbed by the arrival of a fireman who first warns them that everything they do is not permitted, and then swiftly joins the pack. It transpires, however, by way of their entertaining verbal exchanges and bickering, that they are anything but satisfied with their lives and themselves.
Men’s Daycare is a comedy dealing with a plethora of male-female stereotypes, revealing a humorous view on relationships between the sexes from a male perspective. Male problems are often a lot more trivial than the female ones, but nonetheless equally frustrating. The irreconcilable views on shopping, love, marriage and life often break the couples apart. In our staging, this fun-packed comedy on human relations, consumerism and male friendship will be added a special bonus of music hits performed live.
Sandy Lopičić (born in Stuttgart in 1973) is a versatile musical and theatre director, a multi-talent of Bosnian-German-Austrian origin: a pianist, composer, theatre director and actor. At the Drama SNT Maribor he directed Forever Young, a song drama, winning the Gracious Comedian, the Gracious Director and the Gracious Comedy Awards at the Days of Comedy Festival 2016 in Celje, selected by a jury panel and a popular vote.