"Well yes. Proud. Yes I do like it here. Love it here. People say the Germans are unfriendly but I don’t find that to be the case."
Mother migrated to Germany 42 years ago. She spent her life cultivating an idyllic German upbringing for her two German-born daughters. Now in her 60s, she teaches an ‘integration’ course for newly arrived migrants, focused on German nature and hiking culture. Oh, and she also has a thing for the local German men. When Mother decides to apply for Germany’s annual National Integration Awards, the patriotic life she has worked hard to maintain begins to unravel. Her daughters watch and comment from the edge of the lake. Hansel and Gretel play games in the shadows. Even the Trees start to weigh in.
Inspired by plays as varied as Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro, Haruna Lee's Suicide Forest, and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Forest People is a surrealist play about modern European identities, failed assimilation attempts, German memorial culture and a lifelong love of Grimms fairytales.
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Development history:
Class Workshop, The Juilliard School, Feb 2026
Workshop, Et Alia Theatre, NYC, June-July 2026. Dir. Jessica Wu
Performances & Readings:
Reading, Playlab, The Juilliard School, Feb 2026
Extract reading, Durang Night, The Juilliard School, May 2026
Staged Reading, Et Alia Theatre Lab, NYC, Nov 2026. Dir. Jessica Wu - tickets here
Reading, The Juilliard School - Norman Festival, Jan 2027. Dir. Knud Adams - tickets out soon
Awards & Recognition:
Longlisted, Verity Bargate Award, 2026 - one of 20 plays selected out of 2,129 submissions
Longlisted, International Edith and Werner Rieder Prize for New Drama, Munich, 2026
Shortlisted, Alpine Fellowship Award, 2026
Winner, Et Alia Theatre Lab, New York, 2026
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Script available on request.