© Young-Soo Chang

TROJA – Blinde Passagiere im trojanischen Pferd

theaterkohlenpott (Bochum)
#Children's Theatre
When: Thu 08.05. 13:00
Thu 08.05. 17:00
Fri 09.05. 11:00 | Theater Strahl - with follow-up workshop
Where: Theater Strahl
Recommended for ages: 10+
Duration: 70 minutes, no intermission

About

Briseis and Spourgitis know no peace. The Trojan War has been raging for ten years; when it broke out, they were still young children. Both have learned from the warriors: Hate your enemies! ‘The Greeks all have fur!’ Spourgitis is convinced. Although he has never seen one. ‘Everyone in Troy has pig noses,’ Briseis is sure. And that, although she doesn't know any Trojans. It's war, people don't get to know each other, they just fight.

But one night the two do meet. On the last night of the war, they encounter each other in the Trojan horse. And they are observed by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, who has a very unique opinion of war.

Follow-up conversations

Follow-up workshop after the performance on 9 May at 11 a.m.

Credits

With: Gareth Charles, Sefa Küskü, Franziska Schmitz

Director: Frank Hörner

Dramaturgy: Henner Kallmeyer

Musical Director: Sebastian Maier

Set and costume design: Natalia Nordheimer

Technical director: Phil Wistinghausen

Lighting design: Robin Pospiech

Organisation: Gabriele Kloke

Assistance: Marlene Debitz, Carolina Wichmann

The play and the production have been funded as part of ‘Nah dran! Neue Stücke für das Kindertheater’, a cooperation project of the Kinder- und Jugendtheaterzentrums in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutschen Literaturfonds e.V. with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

Vote

Troja! Blinde Passagiere im Trojanischen Pferd is an intense journey into mythology and humanity. Briseïs and Spourgitis are two children who unexpectedly meet in the Trojan horse. We are in the middle of a war. Briseïs has spent most of her life between the ships and has never seen a city. Spourgitis, on the other hand, although he comes from Troy, does not know the sea. Finally, the view through the city wall is surrounded by black warships.

Before they get to know each other, the two already have a bad image of each other in their heads. They are not friends, and we are at war, so they should actually be enemies. But that's not so easy when you get the chance to get to know each other. Because you can only kill those you don't know well.

But the god of war and fashion, Hermes, does not like the fact that they are now spending time together, gaining new perspectives from the other side of the story and that prejudices are beginning to waver. After all, he is there to take the next victim of the fight away and doesn't want to wait around forever. At least he likes to sing and thus brings in music that allows the dark themes to be discussed with ease.

Hermes embodies the inhumanity of war in a very humorous way, which alleviates the unbearable and thus enables discourse. What about Helen anyway? How did she feel about it all? Was Menelaus a bad partner and Paris a romantic, or was Paris a kidnapper and Menelaus the hero? Would Helen need anyone at all? Why do so many people die and kill for the sake of a love story? The author and the team manage to show, with lively acting, multidimensional language and philosophical twists, how history can be written quite differently and how society can be described differently, depending on where you stand.

Ebru Tartici Borchers 

Content Note

Content warning: The film deals with war from a child's perspective as well as loneliness and exclusion in childhood.

Information on sensory stimuli: Strobe lighting is used and loud music is played at some points.