Alan - Mensch Maschine

In the organizer's words:

An installative theater spectacle for the whole family

"Alan - Man Machine" traces important moments in the eventful life of AI visionary and IT icon Alan Turing. After months of work, the British logician succeeded in decoding encrypted radio messages from the German cipher machine "Enigma" using a specially developed machine. Through his efforts, he made a significant contribution to the end of the Second World War. Nevertheless, his achievements were kept under lock and key even after the end of the war. In 1952, Turing was tried for his homosexuality, which was still a criminal offense throughout Europe at the time. In the meantime, not only was the most important award in computer science named after him, but he also received an official apology posthumously on behalf of the British government. Turing's visions of artificial intelligence and his specially developed "Turing Test" are more relevant today than ever.

The Portmanteau Duo created an installation for the play, a music machine that simultaneously provides the soundtrack, participates in the action as a dialog partner and forms the backdrop for Turing's life as a stage set.

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Venue: halle50 of the DomagkAteliers

With Thorsten Krohn, Lucca Züchner and the portmanteau duo Christian Heiß and Greulix Schrank

Director, text: Christian Heiß, Thorsten Krohn | Stage, lighting, music, technology: Portmanteau Duo | Costume: Cornelia Petz | Make-up: Kiki Plötz | Artistic collaboration: Lucca Züchner | Choreographic advice: Sophie Charlotte Becker | Outer Eye: Dagmar Schmidt | Production management: Stephanie Tschunko | Assistant director: Romy Reichenspurner | Production assistant: Lilly Helmel | Software development: Dr. Leonhard Scheck | Coding courses: Margot Schubert | Press: Barbara Fleischmann

The machine

The installation consists of 20 identical Schäfer sorting boxes from the 1970s, in which 5 sound and 3 light actuators were installed, which are controlled via midi signals. The sound installation collectively symbolizes the Turing machine. The machine can reproduce a variety of sound worlds, from grinding noises and tones to complex rhythmic sequences: Clappers banging on wood, plastic crates sliding over saw blades, bells ringing, chains scraping, everything rattles and dengels in time to the music. Each of the 20 boxes is framed by 182 RGB LED lights, which can be brought to life in different forms using software specially written by Dr. Leonhard Scheck. With a total of 3,000 watts of light output using the pixel mapping process, a wide variety of lighting worlds can be created. The combination of music, sound and light installation creates a powerful effective space in front of which the life of Alan Turing is told. https://portmanteau.net/

Please note that a stroboscopic effect is used in this production.

A production of the Kulturbühne Spagat. The production was supported by the City of Munich, the Wiedeking Foundation and the Adalbert Zajadacz Foundation. The revival at the HochX Theater was supported by the Wolfgang Stemmer Foundation and the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Many thanks to all of them!

Price information:

22€ normal rate 16€ reduced rate I: pensioners, Munich Pass, colleagues 14€ reduced rate II: students, young people under 18, severely disabled pass 55€ SPECIAL PACKAGE: 2 adults, 2 children under 16 6€ SPECIAL PACKAGE: each additional child under 16 3€ residents of HORIZONT houses