Stalker. Saviors and Moochers in Paradise and the Totalitarian State

The performance collective “vorschlag:hammer” liked to become better acquainted with the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf by taking internships in various departments of the theatre. During the 2012/13 season, the theatre produced a play titled “Stalker” based on the film of the same name by Andrey Tarkovskiy. The artists in “vorschlag:hammer” became “stalkers” themselves during their residency at the Schauspielhaus, as they became familiar with the theatre, its employees and the reflective, theatrical process. They took on the role of intruders and treasure hunters, instigating change and disorder. In light of the fact that the residency itself represented a clash of two very different systems, the project explored how the form and content of both mutually influence each other and deserve closer examination. The group produced the piece “Hard-Boiled Wonderland” based on a novel by Haruki Murakami in the following season of 2013/14. For this production, the project interwoven exploratory research in Düsseldorf’s Japantown – the largest Japanese community in Germany. The work was accompanied by a series of small, flexible formats, based on what “vorschlag:hammer” discovered at the Schauspielhaus and the city of Düsseldorf.