Birthday Candles

German by Barbara Christ

Ernestine Ashworth moves between the ages of 17 to 107 during which she is a daughter, sweetheart, wife, mother, friend, aunt, mother-in-law, widow, second wife, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. She wants to find her place in the universe, become a different woman from her mother and reach her full potential. But things turn out quite differently from how she plans. Only one thing is certain: every year she bakes a cake, following the same recipe, for each of her birthdays. 90 years and 90 cakes with which her former expectations, dreams and hopes return in the questions of her children and grandchildren’s lives."Eggs, butter, sugar, salt. Quite humdrum ingredients. But if you look far enough, you’ll see atoms that have been there since creation," it says in Noah Haidle’s generational piece for twelve roles and a goldfish. In a humorous and moving way, Birthday Candles tells the story of a life vision, its ups and downs and the power of love that connects the past, present and future.