Art&Science Event: TRR theatre play “Die weiße Wand” at Thalia Theater a full success

Text: Jennifer Fandrich

Finally the presentation of our Art&Science collaboration, the theatre play “Die weiße Wand” could be presented: at Nachtasyl in theatre "Thalia Theater" in Hamburg. Director Woody Mues developed together with writer Peter Thiers and TRR181 member Luby Bing aka Bing-ying Lu from University Bremen the play: „Die weiße Wand“.

In a long queue on the stairs to the rooftop club in this beautiful building we waited in line to check in to the event. The event happened under corona restrictions, so wearing the mask except while you are drinking was mandatory. Tickets were sold out - what a success. Around 80 people gathered in Nachtasyl – that is a place with a bar, where usually plays or club nights take place.

About seaman’s yarn and monster waves

It was an evening of storytelling. About seaman’s yarn, monster waves and the question of whether we meet in fiction or in reality. Increasingly drunk, barmaid and sailor try to find each other. Lies and truth wrestle with each other - until the wave breaks. The actors Cathérine Seifert and Max Kurth gave an incredible intense and at the same time humorous performance.

It was a full success – a sold out premiere was a good start into the evening. Director Woody is planning on presenting the play at a festival in northern Germany in summer and Thalia Theater Team is thinking about another presentation in fall. From TRR 181about 15 scientists have been in the audience – even some who didn´t understand the German text – Luby and TRR181 Hamburg Postdoc Manita Chouksey have already ideas to translate this piece into an English version. This is work in progress.

How incredible fascintating it was to finally be able to see the results of these Art&Science collaborations, that started under difficult circumstances during the pandemic. How the fundamental science of our interdisciplinary project can be transferred in such new ways and thought patterns is thrilling. Scientist Luby said, she enjoyed the working with the artists very much and from what I can tell, the collaborations even may have opened new thought patterns on both sides.

We would like to thank everyone and especially the ones I haven´t named in the text who helped realizing these events. We are looking forward to more repetition of these events and of course new projects.

More information:

If you want to see the play, click here, we uploaded the video of the play on our YouTube channel.

https://www.thalia-theater.de/stueck/die-weisse-wand-2022