Die Waldgänger

In this mockumentary director and leading actor Gordon Kämmerer not only thematises the collective artistic process, but also the onset of the pandemic and the questions it poses to society. How do you rehearse whilst observing social distancing and wearing a mask, is disinfectant a good prop and how can the creative process, by definition open and full of room for improvisation, coexist with strict requirements and controls? On the other hand, one might argue that the pandemic returned us to the essentials: isn't this, after all, the key to our relationship with nature? Big philosophical questions and thoughts mix with everyday observations. Sensitivities, vanity, jealousy. In the staged interview sequences, captured in reality TV style, the speakers reflect on issues of power and gender, whilst others question the theatre's role as an institution. Within a remarkably short time-frame the Cottbus Theatre reacted to an existential situation, came up with a new approach and displayed the courage to attempt an artistic experiment. A hybrid that, like the pandemic itself, calls old certainties into question.