“All right, I’ll do the test once more, to make certain”, says Azdak the judge, before he asks the child to step once more into the chalk circle and calls again on the two mothers to prove which of them is the real one. It is the most familiar scene in the play: a legend, a “very old one”. The outcome of the test is also well known, with the child going to the more “motherly” woman rather than its biological mother. But what if the child is given the choice? Which one should the child choose? And is that it? Can this “old legend” be told by performers who will probably never have children and rely on others for their care? The artists of Theater HORA bring their own rules with them. New rules have to be invented together. Think about how a fresh start is an opportunity. Notice how everything changes when one’s gaze settles on it. See how words fall on fertile ground. Are there more than two options? Who else is there to choose from? “All right, I’ll do the test once more.”
With: Remo Beuggert, Robin Gilly, Simone Gisler, Minhye Ko, Tiziana Pagliaro, Simon Stuber / Concept, text version & direction: Rimini Protokoll, Helgard Haug / Composition: Barbara Morgenstern / Stage: Laura Knüsel / Video & lighting design, kinetics: Marc Jungreithmeier / Costumes: Christine Ruynat / Sound design: Rozenn Lièvre / Dramaturgy: Ivna Žic / Marcel Bugiel / Theatre education: Magdalena Neuhaus / Technical direction: Patrick Tucholski / Production management: Maitén Arns / Production management Salzburger Festspiele: Sven Neumann / Production management Theater HORA: Jörg Schwahlen / General management Theater HORA: Curdin Casutt / Tour management: Louise Stölting / Direction assistance: Clara Bender / Theatre education final rehearsals: Svenja Koch, Noah Beeler
Production: Salzburger Festspiele, Rimini Apparat, Theater HORA. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Theater Winterthur, Staatstheater Mainz / Grenzenlos Kultur Theaterfestival. Funded as part of the Alliance of International Production by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Performing rights: Suhrkamp Verlag AG Berlin.
