World Premiere, based on the novel ALL FOURS by Miranda July
Midlife. Mid-forties. A woman - artist, mother, wife, friend - has prepared everything to embark on a long-planned road trip— and then doesn’t leave. Instead, she ends up in ashabby motel room. She stays. The room becomes more than a refuge: it transforms intoa fantasy space in which she relentlessly explores her body, her desires, her shame and the grand life scripts she has followed until now.
What happens when you don't set off – but pause instead?
Which spaces do women need to break free from cultural expectations?
How much autonomy lies in the decision to stay – and to encounter oneself?
Miranda July’s internationally acclaimed novel offers a bold, unfiltered response. Its success also reveals a void: the near-total invisibility of women in midlife – in literature, culture, theatre and film. Enthusiastic readers experience a story that has rarely been told before – even though countless women are all too familiar with the inevitability of physical changes and the associated challenges in dealing with themselves, in relationships, in everyday life and with their desires. This is another reason why the sudden, groundbreaking power of the protagonist is so infectious as she pursues the "what if“. Like looking through a keyhole, we peer into Room 321—curious, unsettled, and ready to be seduced into unleashing our own thoughts.
AUF ALLEN VIEREN (All Fours) brings this moment of radical self-encounter to the stage. A motel room becomes a space of possibility – Room 321, suspended between banality and magic. An intimate setting of fantasy, self-observation, and contradiction. Light, sound, video, and live music create an immersive atmosphere in which strangers become allies for one evening. The audience does not travel on. They arrive—at themselves and in shared reflection.
What if we allowed ourselves to rethink our life plans?
Miranda July's novel ALL FOURS was published in 2024 and was a finalist for the National Book Awards. It is the second novel by the renowned artist, who also has a career as a filmmaker and performance artist.
CREDITS
Direction & Concept: Sabine Auf der Heyde & Holle Münster
Acting & Concept: Meike Droste & Fritzi Haberlandt
Set design: Hanna Roxane Scherwinski, https://hannaroxanescherwinski.de/
Dramaturgy: Carolin Losch
Video: Isabel Robson, http://isabelrobson.de/
Music/Composition: Sarah Taylor-Ellis, https://www.staylorellis.com/
Music performance (tour replacement): Lucia Brighenti
Sound engineering: César Balleyguier
Choreography collaboration: Valentina Bordenave
Lighting design & technical direction: Anahí Pérez
Assistant director & stage manager: Freja Sande
Stage constructions: Nevo Bar
Costume design: Adriana Quaiser
Production management: Marit Buchmeier & Lisanne Grotz / xplus3 production office
Distribution & Touring: Nicole Schuchardt
A production by Münster Auf der Heyde in cooperation with Sophiensæle
Co-production Théatres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Theater im Pumpenhaus, Münster
Funded by the Capital Cultural Fund. With the kind permission of Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Translation by Stefanie Jacobs
TEAM
Meike Droste studied acting at the Otto Falckenberg School of Performing Arts in Munich. She
performed with the ensembles of the Munich Kammerspiele, the Berliner Ensemble, the
Schauspielhaus Zurich, and the Deutsches Theater Berlin. In addition to her stage work, she has
taken on leading roles in numerous film and television productions. In 2009, she received the FAUST
Theater Award for Best Actress. Her leading role in the multi-award-winning TV series Mord mit
Aussicht brought her nationwide recognition in Germany.
Fritzi Haberlandt studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. She has been
a member of the ensembles at Schauspiel Hannover, Thalia Theater Hamburg, and the Maxim Gorki
Theater in Berlin, and continues to perform regularly at the Deutsches Theater Berlin and the
Burgtheater Vienna. She has received two German Film Awards (Lolas) for Best Supporting Actress
(2004 and 2017). In 2023, she was awarded the FAUST Theater Award for Best Actress for her
performance in Angabe der Person. Her career spans more than two decades of leading roles in
German film and television. Internationally, she is also known for her ongoing role as Elisabeth Behnke
in the Netflix series Babylon Berlin.
Sabine Auf der Heyde is a theatre director, social justice and diversity trainer, and educator in the
performing arts. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she studied theatre directing at New York University
and political science at the Free University of Berlin. She has worked at the Deutsches Theater Berlin,
Staatsschauspiel Dresden, DNT Weimar, Staatstheater Mainz, Luzerner Theater, Staatsschauspiel
Stuttgart, and Bühnen Bern. She has also taught at the Zurich University of the Arts, UdK Berlin and
the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. She developed a social justice and diversity training
concept for the performing arts (www.soju-daku.de) and established the international BA Acting
program at Cours Florent Berlin, where she served as a professor of acting. Her artistic practice aims
to combine an understanding of critical cultural theories—in particular gender studies and postcolonial
theory, as well as diverse aspects of social justice and diversity—with the core concerns of theater:
play, fiction, language, and representation.
Holle Münster Since 2012, Holle has staged numerous plays and novel adaptations by both
contemporary and classical authors. Another central focus of her artistic work is her collaboration with
the theatre collective Prinzip Gonzo, where she works as a director, performer, set designer, and
production manager and develops genre-defining participatory game theatre formats. Her productions
have been created at municipal and state theatres as well as within the independent scene, including
Ballhaus Ost Berlin, Junges Theater Göttingen, Schauspielhaus Graz, Theater Bonn, Landestheater
Niederösterreich St. Pölten, Staatstheater Schwerin, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Schaubühne Berlin,
Theater Konstanz, Theater Heilbronn, Volkstheater Wien, Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken,
Deutsches Theater Göttingen, and Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg. She teaches as a professor at
Cours Florent in Berlin. Alongside her professional work, she completed further training in theatre and
music management at LMU Munich.
TOUR DATES
12 – 15 February 2026 // Sophiensaele, Berlin / Premiere
7 – 8 March 2026 // Theater im Pumpenhaus Münster
11 – 13 March 2026 // Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
20 – 22 May 2026 // Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen
CONTACT
VOICES FROM THE PRESS
“Time and again, Sabine Auf der Heyde and Holle Münster’s production captures the novel’s ironic, sharply observed tone on stage, framing each scene with imaginative visual ideas.”
“Fritzi Haberlandt and Meike Droste portray the first-person narrator with wit and physical
presence, giving form to her constant inner dialogue—just as the protagonist in the novel is continually in conversation with herself. The result is a rousing and heartwarmingly funny duo.”
“This poignant and moving production makes a compelling case for sensuality and self-acceptance beyond the age of 40. At the same time, it reveals how women navigate a world that often renders them invisible once they pass this threshold.”
„From the Myth of the Libido Cliff“, RBB, 13/02/2026
“And this is where the story truly begins. Because it is not only about sex, but also about life and death—and, above all, about aging as a woman.”
“The directors have transformed the novel into a pop-infused, pastel-colored production that captures the author’s distinctive humor. Droste and Haberlandt play the protagonist with eccentricity and self-irony—ukulele in hand, ponytails bouncing.”
“This play takes the audience on a journey into the wild and endless project of being a woman —until, at some point, you feel the urge to set off on a road trip in search of yourself, find a motel room of your own, and never give up. Perhaps after an evening at the theatre, a few affairs will begin or some marriages might open up. Miranda July would probably approve.”
“The Drama of Menopause”, Die ZEIT, 19/02/2026
“The two actresses embrace the quirky humor of Miranda July that holds the piece together. In a dialogue that mirrors inner reflection, they explore and marvel at their inner lives, fluidly stepping into different roles and situations as the narrative unfolds.”
„The stage adaptation succeeds in creating a spacious “room of one’s own” for women—a concept Virginia Woolf identified a century ago as essential for survival under patriarchy, even during perimenopause in a deeply moving way. It seems that each generation of women must rediscover it anew.“
“Lilac-tinted Freedom”, Der Freitag, 16/02/2026
„The book has been radically condensed from 416 to 32 pages, yet the adaptation makes the protagonist’s journey of self-discovery clear with charming laconicism. Actresses Fritzi Haberlandt and Meike Droste share the text, switching roles and scenes with energy and delight. Though there is a playful hint of Barbie in the air, the challenges faced by middle-aged women—who, as Virginia Woolf might say, now have a room of their own—are never dismissed. This is the essence of the “menopause novel”: freedom and repression, life and death. All of it is brought to the stage in a lively, comedic production that is cheeky, cheerful, and full of empathy.“
„Funny Menopause“, FAZ 24.2.2026
„This is, of course, a striking act of artistic autonomy: two acclaimed actresses, together with two befriended directors, secured the performance rights to feminist pop icon Miranda July’s latest novel, All Fours, ahead of any other theatre. Now, theatre stars Meike Droste and Fritzi Haberlandt, alongside directors Sabine Auf der Heyde and Holle Münster, present their collective production at Berlin’s Sophiensæle—right in the heart of the independent scene. The artists demonstrate what creative sovereignty and independence can mean in a warm, playful, and effortlessly casual way.“
„Incidentally, the performance at the Sophiensæle also responds to persistent sexism in theatre and the broader entertainment industry, which continues to discriminate against women over forty. Beyond playful sexual fantasies, frustrations with declining estrogen levels, and doubts about somewhat stale family life, the production is driven by longstanding, still- unresolved questions about gender relations and artistic creation.“
„Tough, important questions. This production doesn’t rely on any comforting facades. Instead, it offers a liberating bubble bath experience—after which nothing feels the same as before.“
„How beautifully it flickers - A celebration of menopause and life beyond forty“,
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13.2.2026