Once I lived with a stranger

A Phantom Image
Photo: Annemone Taake
by Marie Schleef
Theatre
In German
Depot 2
Duration:
1 hour 15 min • no intermission
Premiere:
September 9, 2022
Trailer
It starts the first night. The protagonist, who’s recently moved, hears steps on the roof. Steps? Is there someone staying above me? Weren’t there five bottles of soda left yesterday, not four? And didn’t I shut the kitchen door before leaving the apartment?
When she moves into a new flat, the nameless protagonist of ONCE I LIVED WITH A STRANGER begins to doubt her sanity. Between the certainty of living alone and recurring disturbances it dawns upon her: Someone is living with her. (And means her no harm?)

Marie Schleef’s second production for Schauspiel Köln is like a montage, an imagistic cycle of daily life and horror. Based on a true incidence, a sensory composite sketch emerges over the course of the evening, a balancing act between memory and doubt.
Direction: Marie Schleef
Stage & Costume: Lina Oanh Nguyen
Animation & Stage: Seongji Jang
composition & sound design: Nguyen + Transitory
media operator & artistic coworking: Ruben Müller
light: Jürgen Kapitein
dramaturgy: Sarah Lorenz