Double feature

The productions Das Band. Freundschaft als Lebensform (premiere) and Kein Ort. Nirgends are connected. They were created in parallel, with the same cast and in a shared space, and can be seen both as double performances on one evening and as individual performances.

Dates for individual performances:
Kein Ort. Nirgends
Sun, March 1, 6 p.m.
Thu, March 12, 7:30 p.m.

Das Band. Freundschaft als Lebensform (premiere)
Thu, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Fri, March 13, 7:30 p.m.

A cooperation within the framework of vier.ruhr

The Bond. Friendship as a Way of Life

Directed by Dijana Brnić and Alexander Weinstock

What connects us to the people we are friends with? How long does a friendship last? And what distinguishes it from family, professional, or romantic relationships? Inspired by interviews with different people from Mülheim an der Ruhr and the surrounding area, three performers explore a special form of connection in Das Band. Freundschaft als Lebensform (UA) (The Bond: Friendship as a Way of Life): Friendship creates a unique kind of closeness and responsibility, of attention and love—not by chance, not out of obligation or expectation, but voluntarily and consciously. Perhaps this is where its utopian moment lies, its delicate yet radical power: as a mutually chosen anchor in the world, free from constraints, as a jointly practiced sense of belonging, it is a living counter-model to isolation and alienation.

The bond is a scenic plea for friendship and a tribute to the people who accompany, support, and uplift us, who wash our heads, tell us the truth, accept us, and celebrate us.

Kein Ort. Nirgends

Nach Christa Wolf
Regie: Alina Sobotta

What do you still believe in? What are you hoping for, what do you wish for—and who is joining you?

You are invited to tea and conversation. Outside the windows, it is foggy and cold. War is raging in Europe. It is winter. In a salon, Christa Wolf's novel Kein Ort. Nirgends (No Place. Nowhere) brings together Karoline von Günderrode and Heinrich von Kleist – two poets, two seekers who remained strangers to their time and chose death while still young.

The idea of the salon and the themes from Kein Ort. Nirgends are taken further in the production of the same name: What does it mean to make art today? How radical do we want it to be, how much freedom of thought do we dare to allow ourselves? And where is home, where is kindred spirit in the present?

Three characters struggle with the necessity of formulating utopias – despite everything. The salon, which is being created here in the foyer of the Theater an der Ruhr, is not a historical tableau, but a space for shared questioning. The characters search, hope, doubt, question, and contradict each other. Listen, get involved, endure what is uncomfortable.

‘The audience is actively involved and asked questions about friendship. Each table group is asked to discuss these questions. This creates a real sense of community. [...] It's touching – and then you find yourself smiling again.’

WAZ, Andrea Müller on Das Band. Friendship as a way of life

 

"Director Alina Sobotta skilfully incorporates the entire foyer, especially the large decorative windows and the beautiful old wooden doors, into her production – and at the end even the park behind the building. She initially lets the protagonists act without words. Their looks, gestures and poses show them to be restless and perplexed. Only later do carefully selected passages of text become audible, sketching the poet and the playwright as seekers, hopefuls and doubters. [...] You hear sentences that touch you and stay in your mind for a long time." 

WAZ, Andrea Müller on Kein Ort. Nirgends