Baroque

How does it feel to carry the weight of this world? A group of members of the ensemble of Schauspielhaus Bochum and casted performers face the audience’s curiosity with their bodies and their feelings. They want to be seen more, to be more, to show more. At times they also want to disappear. We look from 2022 to the Baroque and through it to the future.

Political upheavals, ongoing wars, economic crises, epidemics, catastrophes, existential fears, end-of-life mood, subjugation of nature, belief in progress and fear of progress. Does this sound like 16th/17th century (aka Baroque era) or like right now? Aren’t we living in waste – of resources and consumer goods – and yet standing with the world on the precipice? The times touch, question each other, merge.

There were times when a fat body was a symbol of wealth, success and power. There were times when governing meant putting on a show. There were times when the term depression didn’t even exist, and yet the world was already too much for people. Will there be times when we will have saved the world from ourselves? Baroque – that is joie de vivre, abundance, celebration, expenditure. A time of paradoxes: world addiction and world escape. Faith and doubt. Sacrament and banality. Inner chaos and outer order. Desire for waste and fear of emptiness.

With this production, the exceptional Belgian director Lies Pauwels returns to the Schauspielhaus Bochum after her success The Hamilton Complex in the 2018/2019 season. In reference to an era whose characteristics she finds indicative of a preoccupation with our contemporary times, the performance bears the title Baroque. Lies Pauwels is famous for the way she brings together non-professional actors and actresses on stage in her incomparable plays. With her intensive image theater, her self-written texts and highly emotional soundtracks from pop and classical music, she directs attention to current social issues in an extraordinary way.