“A wonderfully entertaining and insightful work that is ethnographic in the best sense; acutely observed, nicely contextualised and highly reflexive. Parts are incredibly honest, even raw, and we really get a sense that this is Luscombe being open about himself, warts and all, which is great.”
Description
With Brexit looming, British playwright and celebrated theatre director, Tim Luscombe, has to understand where he belongs: England or Europe. Meanwhile, he also has to pass the German language exam to become a naturalised citizen of Germany. A dark comedy of becoming and belonging, learning (badly) and loving strongly. An ode to a potential union, a lament for lost citizenship and a celebration of life, theatre director Tim Luscombe’s comic diary places him in the cosmopolitan bubble of Berlin where he juggles German class and the work of adapting Jane Austen's Emma. Witty, charming and always enlightening, Learning German (badly) reflects with deep sadness the reactions of a fierce Remainer when the UK elects to leave the EU, the comedy darkening further as Tim’s priorities and sense of himself as a European shift. A political union is torn apart while a personal union deepens.
Genres
Pages214
Released2026
LanguageEnglish
PublisherClaret Press
ISBN9781918983661
SellerSimon & Schuster
About the author(s)
Tim Luscombe is a writer, a director and a European. Born in London, he has worked and homed in many European countries and has now settled in Berlin, where he lives with his partner. Before concentrating on writing, Tim worked as a theatre director. As well as being responsible for plenty of plays in the West End and on Broadway, he ran the London Gay Theatre Company in the 1990s.
Reviews
“Not many know and love Europe and our complex relationship with it, like Luscombe. And no-one can communicate that with such fantastically self-deprecating wit.”
Federay Holmes, Associate Artist, Globe Theatre, London.
“This is a diary snapshot in time, and a love letter to Europe - albeit filled with the frustrations of living and learning with fellow citizens of many nations. It is hard to go back to a place before you knew a horror would occur, and unlearn what we know now - but Tim has managed it.”
Amazon Review
