The Office

Photos: Felix Grünschloss

The Office

Season 2017/2018, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

The artist duo Herbordt/Mohren has founded a fictional institution. Not just any institution, but ‘The Institution‘. In the foyer of the Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe, they did build a replica of their 13 sqm office. It’s not just a space to work, but also a stage and the starting point for the exploration of a different future for our organisations. Das Büro (The Office) is a performance for one person. About everyday revolutions, fictional institutions, how everything disappears into an artificial lake and starts again differently. ‘The Institution‘ has moved into ‘The Office‘ with an opening party on 19.10.2017. Over the entire run of the season, the audience is invited to visit Das Büro in one-on-one performances featuring actors from the ensemble.

“Maybe it’s all entirely different. Maybe this is not a replica but a model. Maybe the pages in front of you are not a report but a handbook, a score. For something that hasn’t already been but for what is yet to come. Perhaps one day you will be standing where I am now. And greeting the new arrivals: Welcome. My name is [he clears his throat]. “Today, too, I experienced something, I hope to understand in a few days.” [Finger snapping]. Try it. Read what it says there and give it a shot. I will start the clock in a moment. It’s a marker of time. It shows you at what point in the score you are. Help each other. And don’t worry. I will always be next door. For as long as you are here. You needn’t call me. I… cannot hear you. I have been deaf for a long time… Ever since those dramatic events. In Paris in the year 1871. But let us begin. The score is your score. This room is your room. Starting now.” (From ‘The Office‘)

Artistic Direction: Melanie Mohren, Bernhard Herbordt. With: Ute Baggeröhr, Annette Büschelberger, Klaus Cofalka-Adami, Boris Kehrmann and Armin Wieser. Stage and Costumes: Leonie Mohr, Hannes Hartmann. Video: René Liebert. Dramaturgy: Stefanie Bub, Jan Linders. Production: ehrliche arbeit – freies Kulturbüro.

Funded by the Doppelpass – Theatre Cooperation Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Innovation Art Fund of the Ministry for Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg.

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