Die Holländerinnen

The disappearance of two Dutch backpackers who failed to return from a hike in the Panamanian rainforest fascinates the successful theatre maker. His new project reconstructs their case. All that has been found of the two young women is their phones, on which their last desperate calls and a series of barely comprehensible photos had been saved. By repeating and reconstructing the events he tries to make sense of their strange story, to “experience things in person” and track down the Dutch women of the title with his theatre company and ideally together with her — the famous writer. Recording everything! She too becomes part of this experiment that risks failure in the wilderness of the jungle when things get dangerous amid torrential rain and the deepest darkness as the cries of unknown creatures grow louder, invisible absences start to move closer and what can be seen, touched and put into words becomes increasingly elusive. The director Laura N. Junghanns creates her first production for Schauspiel Köln, staging Dorothee Elminger’s masterpiece as a trip through the wilderness of our own souls.