Future Shock. PerformART-Studierende der Alanus Hochschule interpretieren Kleist im digitalen Jetzt

In the organizer's words:

Literally overrun by technological progress - that's how the first rail passengers felt two hundred years ago at a maximum speed of 48 kilometers per hour. Heinrich von Kleist also picks up on this feeling in his novella "The Earthquake in Chili" - this time as a reaction to a natural disaster. Today, we are experiencing a digital explosion that seems to catapult us into the middle of a science fiction movie. Students at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences are investigating this "future shock", these exceptional physical and mental states. They explore the body as a repository of trauma, release emotions through dance, use language as a tool and weapon and playfully create new realities.

Kleist's novella touches on fundamental questions of humanity that are just as relevant today as they were at the beginning of the 19th century: How do people react to a catastrophe that has plummeted to the ground? How does solidarity develop - and how can it turn into hatred? "Future Shock" does not retell Kleist's text, but rather makes social mechanisms visible that are effective in the here and now. The central question is: What happens after the shock? Does self-extinction follow or is there a chance of a different, better future?

A production of the performART course at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences.

Performing:
Gvantsa Akhvlediani, Rosa Andorfer, Toni Diegelmann, Anabella Fingerhut, Mojtaba Izadizad, Kaya Lichtenauer, Ronja Maerten, Sarah Oettrich, Rosa Reisinger, Justin Rohner, Molly Wade, Daniela Weingärtner, Laxmi Wolf

Production:
Annika Schilling, Ilona Pászthy

Venue:
Theater im Ballsaal
Frongasse 9, 53121 Bonn

Play date:
May 16, 2026, 8:00 p.m.

Tickets:
17 € regular, 9 € reduced
Reservation online: https://theater-im-ballsaal.de/
0228 / 79 79 01, karten@theater-im-ballsaal.de

Poster motif: Alanus University / Anabella Fingerhut