In a nostalgic setting reminiscent of a cabaret, apocalyptic drinks are served as different performers cast a melancholy and critical gaze on the fading present-day and future worlds that will no longer come to be. Unfettered lamenting, ironic distance, and a reflexive take on prevailing narratives are here tested out as strategies to deal with Ohnmacht in a convivial setting.
The last act of the series is performed by actor Monika Klengel. She takes the form of an ape to ask herself why the climate crisis simply does not make a good story – and why that is a problem. In German language.
Lamenting about Ohnmacht is a bittersweet item on the menu at Café End Times – and the three performers offer this service as a heady brew. Expect evenings as drawn-out as a long black Viennese coffee with too much cream on top.
Further events:
17/11/2023, 8 pm with Der singende Bronco
9/12/2023, 8 pm with Paula Irmschler
Café End Times with Monika Klengel in cooperation with Theater im Bahnhof
Curated by Markus Gönitzer, Robin Klengel and Miriam Schmid
Café End Times # 3 | 17.01. - 20.01. 2024
FORUM STADTPARK
Do you get up every day? With the expectation that an adventure awaits you? And do you think you'll notice if you stay in bed? But you can't know exactly what will happen that day. You have to find out. You have to set off into an uncertain future.
And what do we do while we're still in bed? We tell each other and ourselves what the most probable future is and what the desirable future is. And how the desirable future becomes the most probable. And then we get up and act accordingly in the present. Or at least we try to.
__
THE AFFIN asks herself and her human alter ego: Why then is the probable future the downfall of the planet? Why are we not taking action? That can't be true. We are narrative beings. We organize ourselves by means of large and small narratives so that we can solve the tasks that lie ahead of us. We imagine something, verbalize it and then move in that direction. We overcome trials, adventures, illnesses and political crises or even just a simple shopping trip. That's how we work, the species that tells stories.
__
Inspired by Friedeman Karig & Samira El Ouassil's book "Erzählende Affen", Theater im Bahnhof asks how storytelling works and why it is not possible to find a narrative that helps us solve the climate crisis.