With
Suzan Boogaerdt, Adriano Henseler, Toni Mærcklin, Montse Majench, Jasper Middendorf, Ibadet Ramadani, Damian Rebgetz, Marie Rosa Tietjen, Bianca van der Schoot, Antonia Wiedemann, Laurie Young
Having examined the inner lives of Jessica and Angela (presented at the Odéon in 2023), Susanne Kennedy explores Xenia’s psyche. Conceived as a pretend retrospective, The Work looks back at the life and work of this recently deceased artist. Together with Markus Selg, the German director creates a virtual world full of avatars — with identical faces and pre-recorded voices — where the same traumatic memories are played out over and over again. Trapped in this infernal loop, the audience navigates this immersive show through the dislocated fragments of Xenia's memory, exploring with her the existential anxieties that cost her her life.
Cast
set design
Markus Selg
sound design, editing, artistic collaboration
Richard Alexander
video designer
Rodrik Biersteker, Markus Selg
costume designer
Andra Dumitrascu
lighting designer
Kevin Sock
dramaturgy
Johanna Höhmann
stage direction assistant
Lara Weidemann
production
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz-Berlin
co-directed with
the Festival d'Automne as part of the Festival d'Automne à Paris
Five dates
1977 Born in Friedrichshafen, Germany
2011 Invited to work at the Münchner Kammerspiele, where she directed They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
2016 Creation of Medea.Matrix, at the Ruhrtriennale in Duisburg. First collaboration with visual artist Markus Selg.
2017 Presentation of Women in Trouble at Berlin's Volksbühne, a play exploring illness and death.
2023 Presentation of Angela (a strange loop) at the Odéon, Einstein on the Beach at La Villette, by Philip Glass, as part of the Festival d'Automne.
