The piece explores the many meanings and uses of the German word verrückt — to move or shift something, but also to be “mad”, “eccentric” or “out of the ordinary”. Its themes range from a jigsaw puzzle and society’s obsessive pursuit of eternal youth and physical perfection, to our extraordinary attachment to cars, the endearing perfectionist in each of us, and delightfully unconventional music that inspired the ensemble’s playful choreography.

Production and Ensemble

The piece ver_rückt explores the different meanings and facets of the German word “verrückt.” We were interested both in the idea of moving, shifting, and rearranging things, and in what is considered bizarre, extraordinary, or unconventional.

The topics that came to mind, and that we found a little bit crazy or “verrückt” in one way or another, ranged from a puzzle game to the absurd culture of body image and the pressure to remain forever young, perfect, and marketable on social media; from a passion for cars and the endearing perfectionist in each of us to highly unusual music that inspired humorous choreographies. The result was a colorful collage of short scenes that we ultimately “shifted” and intertwined in creative ways.

Charlotte Appel, Johanna Bastong, Lionel Berger, Rubina Berger, Norah Boßlet, Jillian Chini, Inka Mielczarek, Clara Reik, Fleur Schack, Lotta Schwaiger, Clara Vater

Claudia Meystre – artistic director