Biografie: Ein Spiel

Reversing a decision you took in the past. Reliving particular situations for a second time. Taking a different path and thereby changing your identity, your life, your biography. In memories you retain experiences that continue to shape your life, experiences that determine forever what direction you take and make things the way they are today.

How would things have been if, by taking the opposite decision, you had missed out on certain encounters and experiences, but had others instead? Successes, failures, decisions for or against. In concrete terms: relationships, marriages, children, jobs, circles of friends, hobbies, risks, investments, relocations... You would certainly be a different person and the people around you would also be affected by your decisions. Your choices not only impact your life but also have enormous repercussions in the circles you move in.

Frisch’s play centres on the Registrar and Hannes Kürmann. The latter has the chance to change particular situations in order to acquire a »biography without Antoinette«. The Registrar takes Kürmann back to situations earlier in his life, which he relives in order to make different decisions: the first time he met Antoinette, a snowball fight, real love, marriage to another woman, a suicide, the death of his mother, his academic career and political decisions. Kürmann finds it difficult to change and realises: »That’s the only thing I want if I’m able to start again: a different intelligence.«

How much do we want to – and can we – change about the past from today’s point of view? How do we evaluate the impact on the rest of our life from today’s perspective? How courageous are we when it comes to change? Questions that elicit different answers for each individual biography – and to this end we are opening up our theatre for people from Bonn and the surrounding area who are willing to engage in an experiment, “a game” along with Hannes Kürmann. This theatrical experiment centres on intensive collaboration, participatory and inclusive, between professionals and amateurs, and on their sharing their own ideas and stories. By this means a platform will be created that, in combination with Frisch’s original work and personal memories, enables the audience to actively engage with the questions of identity and transformation.