Reading hall of emotions

Body. Politics. Emotion. With Alexander Kluge

“Emotions are the true inhabitants of human lives. It can be said of them that they are everywhere, but you just don't see them.”

A sustained reading performance in the area of Graz Central Station in the run-up to Christmas. Actors from TiB read texts from Alexander Kluge's work in a public yet intimate setting, transforming themselves into characters or re-enacting the images described in simple form.
‘... here I concentrate on individual sentences. And every sentence is an observation and is wrong if it then manoeuvres for a long time. It must reflect an observation.’
This sentence by Alexander Kluge is the inspiration for the gesture and tempo of the action. The simultaneously public and intimate situation in this installation is intended to be an offer of deceleration to passers-by and the audience that has come especially for this event. A process that brings calm to the Christmas chaos. 

Thursday, 18 December:  
Passion overwhelms understanding. Understanding kills passion.
Biography, fascism, opera,  emotion
Juliette Eröd, Lorenz Kabas, Monika Klengel, Martina Zinner + a surprise guest.

Friday, 19 December:
Signs of the decline of power: order, war and catastrophe.
War, history, body
Jacob Banigan, Pia Hierzegger, Eva Hofer, Mathias Lodd + a surprise guest.

Saturday, 20 December:
The earth is enchantingly beautiful, but it is not safe.
Utopia, biography, emotion
Ed. Hauswirth, Gabriela Hiti, Elisabeth Holzmeister, Helmut Köpping + a surprise guest.

The texts are delivered via headphones to people who take a seat on a small seating island or move freely around the station concourse.
The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Director:
Ed.Hauswirth
Dramaturgy:
Eva Hofer
Set design:
Johanna Hierzegger
Technology:
Moke Rudolf-Klengel
Production manager:
Christina Romirer

A production by
Theater im Bahnhof, Graz (2025)

(We have our texts translated by DeepL)