What the rhino saw when it looked at the other side of the fence

It actually existed, a zoo next to the Buchenwald concentration camp, to the amusement of the population and the families of the guards. From this fact, Jens Raschke has written one of the most important theatre texts for a young audience, a new, contemporary form of dealing with our past and present.

A piece about the question of bear or baboon – looking away or looking and a plea for civil courage.

Baboon, mouflon, ducks, swans and the marmot girl live contentedly in the zoo. They are doing well, definitely better than many others. Although the Bengal rhino died the other day, one morning it lay stiff and with sad eyes in its enclosure. But then a new young bear comes to the zoo. And asks a lot of questions. What are the strange, spindly zebra creatures on the other side of the fence? Why does it sometimes stink so badly? What actually happened to the rhinoceros? And why did all the birds disappear? The question does not suit father baboon and the zoo inhabitants at all. The bear should stay out of it, otherwise he will put himself and everyone else in danger. When the bear can no longer stand it, he makes a momentous plan.

*Jens Raschke won the German Children's Theatre Award for this play in 2014.*

From the age of 10.