When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other @ Schauspiel Köln

“When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other” by Martin Crimp, German premier, Schauspiel Köln

DIRECTION: THOMAS JONIGK
STAGE DESIGN: LISA DÄSSLE
COSTUME DESIGN: ESTHER GEREMUS
CHOREOGRAFY: TERESA ROTEMBERG
MUSIC / SOUND: MATHIS NITSCHKE
LIGHT DESIGN: MICHAEL GÖÖCK
DRAMATURGY: SIBYLLE DUDEK

A woman and a man. Did he kidnap her? Is he holding her against her will? Or is it a game? And if so, which of the two will win? The addition of other people – a housekeeper and two girls – does not create a clear situation. On the contrary: there are apparently no certainties here. And the rules of the game are only there to be subverted with relish in the next moment. The British dramatist Martin Crimp has written twelve variations on an encounter in which the boundary between power and powerlessness is constantly shifting. With abysmal wit and keen powers of observation, he reveals the contradictions in gender relations and shows how centuries-old power structures are imprinted and live on – if only as a parody.