BREAKING THE WAVE

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

Germany in the near future. Following failed coalition negotiations and inconclusive new elections, the country is politically deadlocked. A research group is tasked with developing a sustainable democratic decision-making model. It is intended to facilitate majorities, overcome political deadlocks, and finally produce concrete results again.

Citizens are needed for the decisive practical test.

WHY DO WE NEED YOU?

By entering BREAKING THE WAVE, you become part of this experiment. In small groups, you’ll move through different rooms and encounter political conflicts, personal stories, virtual reality scenarios, and AI-supported experimental setups. You’ll be asked to take a stand, debate with one another, and make decisions. Your reactions will shape the rest of the evening.

But what does a system that claims to merely listen actually measure? Who decides which stance is reasonable, which group is capable of making decisions, and which voice is trustworthy? And what happens when not only arguments, but also language, behavior, and relationships become data?

An immersive theater performance about political conflict, manipulation, and the question of how democratic agency emerges—and what it may cost.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Please bring a working smartphone to the performance. You do not need mobile data or data allowance, and no data will be collected from you.

WHO’S BEHIND IT?

BREAKING THE WAVE is the third part of The Beautiful Minds’ Wave trilogy. The previous productions, DIE DRITTE WELLE and INSIDE THE WAVE, were awarded the “Active for Democracy and Tolerance” prize by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. The concept for BREAKING THE WAVE won The Power of The Arts award.

A production by The Beautiful Minds in collaboration with creative technologist Benita Martis, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, and the Kulturbunker Köln-Mülheim.

With

Victor Maria Diderich

Luna Lynn Emmerich

Paula Götz

Jonas Laiblin

Matthias Reinelt

Charlotte Uedingslohmann

Director

Stefan Herrmann

Set Design

Trixy Royeck & Veronika Witlandt

Creative Technologist

Benita Martis

Project Manager

Annika Erpenbeck

This production is a winner of The Power of The Arts 2024 and is supported by: the Cultural Secretariat of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Cologne Cultural Office