What if you could go inside a film, walk through it and even play a part in it for a while? That is precisely what is being offered by this interactive installation, created by the German theatre company Rimini Protokoll, on the subject of economies and urban ecosystems. This collective has been pushing the limits of theatre since the year 2000, and has now created an experience that combines exhibition and stage performance. The protagonists are cities: those sprawling agglomerations where it is estimated that 68% of the world’s population will be living by 2050. Industry has disappeared from these big cities, so services – mostly online – and property speculation are the main sources of wealth. Cities are the ideal setting for reflecting on society’s extremes. What is the maximum viable population density in an urban centre? How much inequality can we tolerate? How do we live together as a community? During your visit to this installation, you will play different roles: a child, a lawyer specialising in the technology and digital sector, a homeless young woman, a university professor and a worker in the underground economy. That is because, here, every visitor is an actor performing for the others and is invited to exchange roles, encounter unexpected experiences and put themselves in another’s place.
In the theatre, the audience remains seated, watching the action occur in front of them, while in an exhibition, visitors move around to look at objects hanging from a wall. This experience, however, combines both forms of participation: some spectators visit the space as individuals and adopt an active role using a tablet, while others enter as a group and see all the other visitors as actors. In the end, everyone observes each other and, in doing so, discovers how the various positions depend on one another and their differing degrees of freedom of action.
This mixture of art exhibition and performance was conceived by Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel, the creators of the Rimini Protokoll collective, who are collaborating with the stage designer Dominic Huber on this occasion. Driven by a fascination with new technologies and globalisation, they speak of daily realities, work with experts and take theatre beyond its limits. They have received various prestigious awards, including a Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale 2011.
A Grec 2021 Festival de Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Rimini Apparat, Kunsthalle Mannheim and Nationaltheater Mannheim co-production.
Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
In collaboration with Mediapro, Institut del Teatre and Universitat Pompeu Fabra – UPF.
Recommended for ages 18 and up.
Concept, text and direction: Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi, Daniel Wetzel Scenography and concept: Dominic Huber
