Between memory lapses, shredded files, and pure malice, players attempt to solve a crime together with a sickly investigator.
It is what it looks like: one of the out-of-towners is dead, and another one of them did it. Even a superficial glance at the clues is enough to draw this conclusion. Parallels to other crimes? Purely coincidental. The Republic isn’t a bit shocked. And the sickly investigator, in her critical condition, better hold off on making any hysteria-induced conjectures.
The theatrical game TOXIK makes a nightmarish world into a playable one, where truths are convenient and conclusions compelling, as long as no one can prove otherwise.
Premiere / Venues
Premiere in October 2015 at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Credit: Mathias Prinz / machina eX
Anna Steinbauer, Süddeutsche Zeitung
“The scenery looks like something out of a David Lynch movie, the difference being that the “Toxik” audience is in the middle of the action. (…) The theatrical sequences, featuring excellent performers, give the play its structure. Lea Willkowsky as the fragile, apathetic investigator Frau M. and her boss, as neurotic as he is aggressive, played by David Simon, react to the players’ interactions and either suddenly freeze or repeat their lines to cue participants to take action.”
Text: Martin Ganteföhr /// Concept: machina eX, Martin Ganteföhr, Clara Ehrenwerth /// Artistic Direction and Staging: Anan Fries /// Performance: Jan Jaroszek, Katharina Schenk, David Simon, Lea Willkowsky /// Technical Direction and Interactive Design: Robin Krause /// Interactive Design: Lasse Marburg /// Sound Design: Mathias Prinz /// Dramaturgy: Clara Ehrenwerth /// Costume Design: Daniela Bayer /// Staging Assistance: Barbara Lenartz /// Interactive Design Assistance: Benedikt Kaffai /// Video: Jan Philip Steimel /// Production management: Sina Kießling
Production: machina eX. Coproduction: HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Funded by the Capital Cultural Fund and the cultural administration of the Berlin Senate.