"Schweigen Impossible" by Theater Thikwa

Having people with disabilities on stage always makes me question: does everyone on stage acknowledge their performative self to the same extent. Perhaps it shouldn't even matter. “Schweigen Impossible” is about the lack of common language, be it because of the nationality of the speakers or the physical incapability to speak or hear. The production follows quite an expected road, offering short scenes of miscommunication with a punch-line here and there (e.g. Christians hijacked the name Zeus from Greek, making it Je-zeus) and relying heavily on mistranslation when it comes to humour. Where it becomes more interesting is, however, when the spoken language is put aside as a futile medium and bodies speak for themselves. I missed more dance scenes that managed to make me feel how little effort it actually takes to understand someone you don't have a common language with or who simply doesn't use spoken language, rather than being told about it. And this obviously has nothing to do with the actors' disabilities or their capability to acknowledge their performative self and everything with the director's choices.


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