setup.school(). The Learning Machine (2021)

In the mobile game setup.school(). The Learning Machine , a humanoid teaching robot—which students ages 13 and older can configure as a teacher according to their wishes—gets tested in the classroom.

IT specialist Nora Garn has developed the world’s first teaching robot, the Teach3000. The device, which is still in the test phase, resembles a human teacher and adapts to students’ individual needs. However, in order to design the robot to fit their specifications, students must first work together to formulate and negotiate their needs.

In a playful format, students decide what their school robot should be able to do and discuss its “basic settings”: What does a fair evaluation actually look like? How easy-going, how strict should a teacher be? Acting out the school metaphor becomes an exercise in self-determination, submission, and participation.

Nominated for Wildwechsel Festival 2023.

Premiere / Venues

Premiere in November 2021 at the Landesbühnen Sachsen in Radebeul and in January 2022 at the Theater Baden-Baden

Restaging in March 2024 at the Hessischen Staatstheater Wiesbaden

A person wears a mask that looks like the open back of a human head. Wires and other electronics are coming out of the back of the head, and another person is working on them.
A messy desk with covered with electronics and pizza boxes. A rigid-looking person with wires in the back of their head hands a wrench to another person.

Credit: machina eX

A person in a work uniform holds in one hand a human-looking hand with lots of wires sticking out of it. With her other hand she uses a pair of pliers to cut the wires.
A person rests their chin on a tabletop and looks intently at the flashing electronics in front of them.
A person holds a fake nose in one hand, which is connected to a smartphone in the other hand. The screen says: “Nasal sensors activated.”
A person holds a cable in their hands, which is sticking out of the android sitting in front of them with a lamp in its chest. The person is eating a piece of pizza.

Credit: Landesbühnen Sachsen/Silvio Dittrich, René Jungnickel

Eine Person mit einem leuchtenden Kreis auf dem Brustbein redet mit einem Schüler in einem Klassezimmer.
Eine als Android verkleidete Person und eine Wissenschaftlerin sowie die Projektion einer bastelnden Frau in einem Klassezimmer.
Eine als Android verkleidete Schauspielerin und eine Schülerin aus dem Publikum schauen sich an.
Eine als Android verkleidete und eine als Wissenschaftlerin verkleidete Schauspielerin in einem Klassenzimmer.

Credit: Christine Tritschler


„We would definitely recommend the play, especially for groups looking for a fun-filled adventure.“

Emma & Janina, Windeck-Gymnasium Bühl

Concept and Game Design: machina eX /// Direction and Software Development: Anton Krause /// Text: Clara Ehrenwerth /// Interactive Design and Software Development: Robin Hädicke /// Bühne und Kostüm: Luise Ehrenwerth /// Graphic Design: Elisa Haubert /// Software-Development: Thomas Drechsler, Benedikt Kaffai /// Production management: Sina Kießling /// Performance Radebeul: Cordula Hanns, Johannes Krobbach /// Performance Baden-Baden: Sebastian Brummer, Stephan Roschy /// Dramaturgy: Sebastian Brummer, Johanna Jäger

Production: machina eX. Coproduction: Landesbühnen Sachsen, Theater Baden-Baden. Premiere funded by „ZukunftsGut“ – Commerzbank Foundation Prize for Institutional Cultural Education. With support from the Sparkassen Foundation Baden-Baden Gaggenau and the Baden-Baden and Lichtentaler Allee Lions Clubs

Video: Miguel Hernández, Staatstheather Wiesbaden