By Grace Hatchell
Edinburgh Fringe has thousands of productions and every so often something lands in the Theatre Village inbox that makes me stop and think: now, what’s this all about?
Today that production is LANDSFRAU هموطن.
Presented by the Doris Crea Collective, LANDSFRAU is an autofictional journey from German-Afghan actress Mariann Yar, blending music, choreography and poetry while exploring Afghanistan, diaspora, cultural identity and belonging.
And before I get myself into linguistic trouble, let’s start with the title.
Landsfrau is a German noun meaning “compatriot” or “fellow countrywoman”, while هموطن similarly refers to a compatriot.
At the centre of the production is Ariana, whose relationship with Afghanistan is thrown into turmoil following the 2021 evacuation of Kabul and the return of the Taliban.
Afghanistan is the country of her parents’ birth, but Ariana has grown up abroad. As the final evacuation planes leave Kabul, events trigger an internal reckoning involving war, memory and identity, stretching back as far as the televised reporting of 9/11.
Burdened by the different narratives surrounding Afghanistan, Ariana feels a responsibility to challenge Western images of the country and construct her own story from fragments of family history, imagined pasts, nostalgia, longing and anger.
That’s quite a lot more complicated than simply answering the question, “Where are you from?”
And that’s really at the heart of LANDSFRAU.
What does it mean to belong to a country you cannot return to? How much of our identity comes from where we live? How much comes from our families? And how much comes from places that exist through memories, stories and imagination?
The production doesn’t approach those questions through conventional storytelling alone.
Afghan folk music collides with electronic beats, while Attan meets contemporary dance. Music, choreography and autobiographical material are brought together as Ariana navigates the political and personal sides of her identity.
There’s also the difficult privilege of being able to live safely elsewhere while remaining emotionally and culturally connected to Afghanistan.
Rather than attempting to provide audiences with an easy explanation or resolution, LANDSFRAU explores those contradictions and places personal and political resistance at the centre of the performance.
The woman bringing Ariana to the stage is Mariann Yar, a German-Afghan actress born in Budapest.
After studying acting at the University of the Arts, Mariann has worked across German municipal and state theatres as well as the independent theatre scene. Her work sits at the intersection of acting and critical theatre, with a particular focus on identity and contemporary social and political questions.
She’s also part of the Doris Crea Collective alongside Andrej Agranovski, Leonard Dick and Alessa Maria Karešin.
It’s quite an international bunch.
The collective has backgrounds spanning Santiago de Chile, Zagreb, Moscow and Kabul. Apparently they can talk past one another in four different languages, yet somehow they can all sing along to Elton John in perfect unison.
Now that’s the sort of international diplomacy I can get behind.
Their work repeatedly returns to questions surrounding identity, belonging and what it means to live within the diaspora, combining contemporary theatre and performance with choreography, music and elements of pop culture.
And LANDSFRAU has already attracted some interesting responses.
German publication Taz said the production “ventures into uncharted territory”, while Tagesspiegel highlighted how Mariann develops a universal narrative from biographical experiences.
Now Edinburgh Fringe audiences have the opportunity to discover it for themselves.
LANDSFRAU هموطن runs at TechCube 0 at Summerhall until 31 August 2026, starting at 14:50 and running for approximately 60 minutes. It’s recommended for ages 12+ and contains distressing or potentially triggering themes.
That’s one of the things I love about Fringe.
One minute I’m writing about comedy.
The next it’s puppetry.
Then something lands in my inbox involving Afghan folk music, electronic beats, contemporary dance, German poetry and a story exploring what it means to belong to somewhere you may never be able to return to.
And people wonder why I never get bored covering Edinburgh Fringe.
Grace x
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/landsfrau
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