Concrete Playground

German art is life turned up to 11. From women wearing horns, to wolfmen, to mothers dragging their children across war-torn Europe, this is a culture that bursts humanity open to the viscera. At the forefront of the modern Deutsch culture merchants is Roland Schimmelpfennig, whose works are both epic in scope and tender in their minute details.

Director Cristabel Sved (Parlour Song, Dealing with Clair) breaks the ice on Sydney Theatre Company's 2011 NextStage program with Schimmelpfennig's Before/After. Not only is this life with germanic verve, it is a seriously courageous undertaking: 51 scenes depicting the rawest moments in the lives of 40 characters. Taking a lesson from classic photojournalism, these are the snapshot experiences either before or after a life-changing event.

The cast is tight, there are cameras and microphones, infidelities, magic happenings and a whole lot of lightbulbs. And if that's not incentive enough for you, STC has partnered with beer brewmeisters, Little Creatures, to give every patron a free beer with each ticket purchase. Just in case you weren't feeling German enough...