Die Rechnung
Cologne premiere
A table, a chair, a bottle. And a glass of wine being served. This is the starting situation. But who is the server here? And who is being served? Who is going to end up paying the bill and who is going to take payment? This work by the British writer and director Tim Etchells (Forced Entertainment) plays through the dynamics of power in a series of variations on the same scene – and the longer it continues, the darker and more apocalyptic its humour becomes. Master and servant expose the many pitfalls of hierarchical relationships. After its German language premiere at the Wiener Festwochen in 2024, table, chair and wine are now installed in Depot 3, and tension is rising: Who emerges from this slapstick comedy ultimately having to pay?
- Regie Tim Etchells
- Bühne Richard Lowdon
- Musik Graeme Miller
- Dramaturgie Lidia Polito
- With Frank Genser
Both role-switching and the compulsion to repeat are executed with remarkable virtuosity in Etchells' play. But one shouldn’t give too much away about this clever yet thoroughly entertaining evening, in which Frank Genser and Christoph Schüchner pull out all the slapstick stops to the most obstinate minimalist melodies — without ever slipping into banality.