A three-part performance series

Texts by Ivo Briedis, Kaśka Bryla, Ceren Ercan, Lothar Kittstein, Anthony Kibsa Ouédraogo
Director Frank Heuel
Stage, Costumes, Video Annika Ley
Assistant Director Lutz Ackermann
Production Management Jennifer Merten
Production Management Svenja Pauka
Public Relations Claudia Grönemeyer

Episode 1/3
MusicOzan Tekin
Performance
Nicole Kersten, Andreas Meidinger, Oleg Zhukow and Susanne Gelf, Roman Höffken, Mei Huang, Felix Kenner, Raphael MacLaren-Thompson, Luis Padberg, Cihan Simsek

Episode 2/3
Performance
Bettina Marugg, Andreas Meidinger, Harald Redmer

Folge 3/3
Performance
Bettina Marugg, Nicole Kersten, Philip Schlomm

Performances
at Theater im Ballsaal, Bonn

Episode 1/3
Fri 31 Mar and Sat 01 Apr 2023, 8pm
Tickets at BonnTicket

Episode 2/3
Fri 28. and Sat April 29, 2023, 8 pm
Tickets at BonnTicket

Episode 2/3
Fr May 19 and Sat May 20, 2023, 8 pm

From one moment to the next, nothing is the same anymore. Logic is suspended. Values that were just relevant are considered absurd. One’s own perception seems distorted and even the meaning of words is no longer reliable. This is how a brief description of one of the world’s most famous stories from 1865 could sound: “Alice in Wonderland”. Amazingly, however, it could also refer to the present.

The fringe ensemble has now asked five authors from five countries to use Lewis Caroll’s story as a foil and inspiration and to write short texts with a view to the reality surrounding them. In this three-part performance series, you are invited to drop like Alice down the rabbit hole – headfirst into a perhaps irritating, perhaps grotesque, perhaps playful contemplation of a world turned upside down. As always, with a series, it’s crucial not to miss an episode!

Episode 1/3 With a courageous leap we go downwards – to where not only the laws of space and time are turned upside down, but we find ourselves in a realm of – one could say – alternative logic. Previously valid reliabilities are subject to a sometimes charming, playful, or cruel arbitrariness – until, in the end, we ask ourselves, in the words of the Hatter, “Have I lost my mind?” And we might be reassured by Alice’s words: “I’m afraid so. You’re out of your mind. But I’ll tell you something: that’s what makes the best.”

Episode 2/3 Arrived in Alice’s world 2023 we ask ourselves: How do we deal with a world between madness and nightmare? Should we taste every cake right away, nibble on mushrooms, drink from vials, bravely face even the most absurd discourse, simply reweigh the meaning of words? Do we need a clear head, a resolute demeanor, a new vision, imagination, more imagination, convincing arguments, or thinking beyond logic? Moving on.

*Quotation from the Hatter in Alice in Wonderland as adapted by Tim Burton: “I’ve been thinking about things that begin with the letter M: Bitch, Mutiny, Misdeed, Murder.”

Sponsored by: Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Federal City of Bonn, City of Münster.