Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm

Theatre and the Crisis of Democracy

Western-style democracy is in crisis: migration, global warming and the economic consolidation of power go hand in hand with a devaluation of former stakeholders and institutions, such as the nation and its parliament. In many places, the answer is a return to forms and structures of authoritarian rule. Against this background, the lecture series “Frankfurter Positionen 2021” invites artists and academics from disciplines dealing with theatre and performance to reflect on the relationship between theatre and democracy. How do new forms of theatre, choreography and forms of performance that transcend genres and styles react to this crisis? How does this crisis affect their formats, modes of organisation and content?

In his talk, Marc Siegel, Professor of Film Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, will be exploring the artist duo Vegard Vinge & Ida Müller. Critical reviews of their work usually focus on their radical adaptation of Ibsen and the spectacular innovativeness of their stage aesthetics – the obsessively hand-painted cardboard and wooden constructions, the masked performers, the acoustic collages. But Vinges & Müller’s revision of the theatre as an institution goes beyond what happens on stage. It is about the ideological tap water itself.