Between the Chairs

for everybody 13+

Some are not allowed to be where they are. Some cannot be where they want to be. Some don't want to be where they are. Some are where they are not allowed to be. Some are just there.

Two men come into a hall. Inside there are 13 empty chairs. One was there first. One came in second. Who is in authority? An absurd game develops, around highness and the right to exist. And not in all moments it is a game for both of the men. Whose is the space, and whose are the places? Who is allowed to be here, and who is not? Who needs a residence permit, from who – and how reliable is it when you have one? What happens if you don't?

In the production "Between the Chairs", the actors Mamadoo Mehrnejad and Marko Werner, deal with these existential questions, wittily and with a great delight in playing. The play was developed in cooperation with author Steffen Moor. Director Barbara Kölling has created situations that invite the audience to question their own presuppositions.

PREMIERE: Friday, 20th September 2019, HELIOS Theater

Performance: Mamadoo Mehrnejad, Marko Werner
Text: Steffen Moor and Team
Production: Barbara Kölling and Team

In the new production „Between the Chairs“, big and small places are created. They are taken, offered, and snatched away. Borders are drawn and opened. With humor and brilliancy, the ensemble creates surprising, partly absurd situations which challenge to change perspectives. Topics such as freedom, foreignness and equality are dealt with in an abstract way and become tangible at the same time. The chairs constantly play a central role and are a metaphor for the "place".

Westfälischer Anzeiger, 14.09.2019, by Alena Grosskopff

The focus is set on two actors and of course a dozen chairs. They are pushed there and back, they are knocked on, they are offered and taken away. Now the chairs form a circle, now they build a line. [...] The performance also connects with the very big questions of national borders or residence permits. For young people, the questions are especially relevant, Kölling says: "Am I allowed to be here? Am I allowed to be there? Am I in the right place? Every teenager is asking these questions in relatuon to their family, their class, their circle of friends..."

Radio Lippewelle, 19.09.2019, by Rainer Wilkes

„It is about the own place in the works, and even more about the question, who can tell somebody that they have a right to be here, to be in a certain place, or that they have to go away again." – […] – „I found it interesting, that the problems were presented in a very amusing way.“ – „The actors were very good, they have created very interesting situations. It was easy to understand this state of mind of "This is mine now" and "Oh god, he could take this away from me", I mean, it was easy to understand these fears that develop very well.“

Radio Lippewelle, 29.09.2019, interviews with spectators, by the budding reporters Hannah and Leon