Layers of Life (2021)

In an abandoned motor home, up to four players embark on a trip back in time to the early 1990s.

10 square meters for the road. That’s enough room—between jars of jam, folding chairs, and a chemical toilet—to write a little East German-West German economic history. In the gold rush atmosphere of German reunification, Eddy Hornberger travels to his former home in East Germany to get a piece of the privatization pie. However, amidst the turmoil of reunification, everyone quickly loses sight of the big picture. In an abandoned motor home, which serves as the location for the new game by machina eX, up to four players set off on a journey through time to the early 1990s. Together, they reconnect hidden threads and conflicting perspectives. . Layer by layer, the players uncover the fictional biography of an ambivalent character involved in selling off the “people’s property” in what was once East Germany at Treuhand (an agency established in 1990 to privatize former East German enterprises during reunification). In Layers of Life, machina eX explores the playful potential in discovering and assembling a story—somewhere between an augmented radio play, an exploratory game, and a narrative spatial installation.

Premiere / Venues

Premiere: 25. November 2021, Fahrbereitschaft Lichtenberg, Berlin

October 2022: Performing Arts & Digitalität Festival, Darmstadt

May 2023 FFT Düsseldorf

A motor home under a shelter in a dark courtyard, illuminated by a spotlight. The door is open, and the interior lit, with a silhouette in front.
A large, elegant room with nothing in it except a table with a plastic chair, a screen, and flowers. A person with a briefcase approaches the table.
Four people wearing FFP2 masks step out of a motor home lit by a spotlight.
The interior of a motor home: a bed with brown and white sheets, checkered curtains, and a built-in kitchen with a toaster, an electric kettle, and a thermos.
On a table is an open briefcase with a built-in receipt printer, a display, and a knob. One hand grips the knob.
Four people wearing masks and headphones are standing in a motor home, reading from the same printed sheet of paper.
Four people walk across an unlit courtyard with parked cars toward brightly lit facades.
A motor home illuminated by a spotlight. A person with a briefcase is standing in front of it, about to open the door.
Two people are sitting at a table inside a motor home and reading printed sheets of paper.
A person sits at a draped desk in the middle of a large, grand, otherwise empty room. On the desk are flowers and a screen.
An unlit sitting area with chairs around a table. On the table is an open briefcase. Light from the briefcase shines on a person sitting in front of it.

Credit: Paula Reissig

Concept: machina eX /// Performance (Audio): Esther Becker, Laura Naumann, Tina Pfurr, Martin Schnippa, Leon Ullrich /// Text: Clara Ehrenwerth /// Scenography: Barbara Lenartz /// Interactive Design and Programming: Benedikt Kaffai, Sebastian Arnd /// Sound Design: Matthias Millhoff /// Dramaturgy: Lena Vöcklinghaus /// Scenography Assistance: Theresa Reiwer /// Collaboration Game Design: Anton Rose /// Webdesign: Philip Steimel /// Production Assistance: Ines Strzedulla /// Production management: Sina Kießling

Production: machina eX. Koproduktion: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, FFT Düsseldorf. Funded by the Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa. Supported by the initiative you are warmly invited