Starke Stücke: Räume für zukünftige Gedanken

“Jag tänker på dig – I think of you” (Johanssons Pelargoner och dans) and ‘Die Konferenz der kommenden Entscheidungen’ (Toboso, Maschinenhaus Essen) – these are the names of the two guest performances that will tour libraries and schools in the RheinMain region as part of ‘Starke Stücke’ 2026.

The target audience is schoolgirls between the ages of 10 and 15, i.e. precisely those who are not yet allowed to participate in politics, but who are urgently needed by our democracy as creative minds, co-thinkers and co-creators. Libraries are rediscovered as places of liberal democracy in a performative audio tour. Three cool, clever performers frame a conference in which parliamentary exchange is rehearsed and those present get to know each other, their arguments and ideas anew, across generations. The dramaturgy of both plays actively involves each individual and leaves no one untouched.

Both productions are aesthetically and poetically condensed spaces for equal participation. The audience becomes co-players, explorers, parliament and guardians of free thinking. Both find different frameworks for this, each of which enables individuals to locate themselves in space and with others and to change perspectives. The designed performance spaces transform the everyday spaces (library, auditorium) and take young people seriously as co-creators of democracy. Among other things, the programme for breaking down barriers asks how DGS interpreting and audio description can become part of art. The outreach programme is being developed with the Radikale Töchter collective in order to rethink outreach, democracy education and action art. The focus is on the fundamental values of democratic coexistence, which are negotiated with children and young people in the region in an accessible, practical way.