Stein unter Steinen: Schauspiel in vier Akten

A bustling Berlin stone‑cutting workshop provides the backdrop for this four‑act drama, where the stern yet good‑hearted master mason Zarncke runs his business amid the clang of chisels and the hum of his workers. At home he shares a modest, warmly furnished parlor with his frail but spirited daughter Marie, whose gentle humor and quiet strength shine through their daily conversations. The play opens with a vivid tableau of the workshop’s noise and the domestic routine, revealing Zarnidge’s pragmatic concerns about labor, finances, and a looming police inquiry.

Through sharp, colloquial dialogue the characters—Zarncke’s diligent accountant Jenisch, the night‑watchman Eichholz, and a host of laborers and household staff—paint a picture of a tightly knit community bound by duty and survival. As tensions rise over work conditions and the ever‑present threat of authority, the audience catches glimpses of generational clashes and the fragile hopes that linger beneath the stone‑laden surface. The first act sets the stage for a compelling exploration of responsibility, loyalty, and the small dramas that unfold within a world of hard labor.