In Lessons of Leaking, machina eX explores the moral conflicts in the tense territory between democracy, transparency, manipulation, and freedom of expression.
Germany, 2021. After the countless crises of the 2010s, visions of a united Europe have finally succumbed to the reality of a full-scale security apparatus. Society is divided: critics across the political spectrum are demanding Germany exit the EU, whereas EU advocates want to hold on to the old ideal of a mutually supportive community.
To calm the angry mood around the country, the government stages a one-time referendum on whether the Germany should leave the EU. A few days before the vote, under mysterious circumstances, a young PR officer gets ahold of some top-secret documents. If published, they would have devastating consequences for all of Europe.
In collaboration with the playwright Dmitrij Gawrisch, machina eX has created a theatrical game that illustrates the irreconcilable conflict between political ideals and personal interests. Together in a group of 10, the audience plays through the political thriller and ultimately determines the course of the story: To leak or not to leak?
Premiere / Venues
May 2016 at the auawirleben Theaterfestival Bern
August 2016 at the Kampnagel Hamburg
September 2016 at FFT Düsseldorf
September 2016 at Südpol Luzern
October 2016 at the Sirenos Theaterfestival Vilnius
October 2016 at the Durchstarter Niedersachsen Festival at the LOT Braunschweig
November 2016 at Gessnerallee Zürich
December 2016 at the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm
January 2017 at the Rex-Theater Athen
April 2017 at the Transform Festival Leeds
May 2017 at the KunstFestSpielen Herrenhausen
June 2018 at the Freiburg Festival at the Theater Freiburg
Credit: Gabriela Neeb / Mathias Prinz / Karol Jarek
Daniel Raumer, Games Markt
By combining theater and interactive play installations, machina eX has created something sensational that, at least in this form, is unparalleled in the cultural landscape. Through the fusion of different art forms, the whole here is much more than the sum of its parts .
Andre Mumot, Deutschlandradio Kultur
There is something virtuosic about the way the inventors at machina eX translate digital play into downright moving analog situations, keeping the audience entertained with lovingly crafted puzzles while simultaneously playing through important social issues—without raising an all-knowing, moralizing finger. This type of honest, clever messaging isn’t exactly the order of the day, not to mention in the theater.
Text: Dmitrij Gawrisch /// Performance: Nora Decker, Ayana Goldstein/Leonie Rainer, Roland Bonjour/Jan Jaroszek /// Performance (Video): Benita Sarah Bailey, Cora Frost, Walter Hess, Maria José Morales Folgueras /// Concept: machina eX, Clara Ehrenwerth /// Direction: Anan Fries /// Staging: Anan Fries, Franziska Riedmiller /// Tech, Programming, andInteractive Design: Lasse Marburg, Jan Philip Steimel /// Videoanimation: Konrad Jünger /// Camera: Paula Reissig /// Sound Design: Mathias Prinz /// Dramaturgy: Clara Ehrenwerth /// Costumes: Daniela Bayer /// Staging Assistance: Winnie Christiansen /// AssistanceInteractive Design andProgramming: Benedikt Kaffai /// Translation: Lucy Renner Jones /// Technical Direction: Philip Steimel /// Production management: Sina Kießling /// With thanks to: Anton Rose, Juliane Hahn.
Production: machina eX. Coproduction: Münchner Kammerspiele, Goethe-Institut, FFT Düsseldorf, Gessnerallee Zürich, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, ROXY Birsfelden, Südpol Luzern, AUAWIRLEBEN Theaterfestival Bern. Funded by: Cultural Administration of the Berlin Senate Chancellery, Fonds Darstellende Künste, Dance & Theater Technical Committee BS/BL.