At the centre of this happening is a Beetle. Like Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s short story of the same title, it too becomes the target of aggression and violence. Or maybe not? The audience decides for itself how far it wants to go.
Language: none spoken, German and English surtitles
Acoustic amplification through induction loop for visitors with hearing aids
4.6. after the performance: interactive audience discussion in German
Tickets for all Impulse events are also available from our ticket shop.
Manuel Gerst views ‘Metamorphosis’ as a story about disability – about dealing with the deformed other. In the beginning the Samsa family still sympathises with Gregor, who one morning finds he has taken on the form of a giant beetle. But soon their life together is dominated by alienation, violence and indifference.
Do not expect this stage version to be a faithful adaptation. The beetle occupies the centre of a group dynamic that can take a different turn in each performance. Let he who is without sin cast the first apple.
“Here again, at last, is an evening in the theatre that is worth thinking about for a long time. And that should definitely be celebrated.” Patrick Wildermann, Tagesspiegel
Concept, Direction: Manuel Gerst
Dramaturgy: Matthias Meppelink
Artistic Collaborator, Music: Mark Schröppel
Production Management: ehrliche arbeit – freies Kulturbüro
A production by Rahimi+Gerst GbR in co-operation with Ballhaus Ost. Funded by the Berlin Senate Department of Culture and Social Cohesion.
Adolfina Fuck was born in the North West of Germany in 1982 as Matthias Meppelink. From 2003 to 2005 Adolfina studied at the Institute of Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen. Founder member of the performance collective Monster Truck. Since graduating, Adolfina has worked as a dramaturg and musician in independent theatre and radio productions. Adolfina regularly works with Boris Nikitin, Rabea Kiel, Cecilie Ullerup Schmidt, Marcel Schwald, Sebastian Nübling, Begüm Erciyas and others. These collective pieces tour internationally. Adolfina also performs club concerts, releases techno tracks and is a member of the Berlin-based collective Antisemantic that aims to support social and left-orientated political projects through parties and concerts. Adolfina lives in Berlin.
Manuel Gerst studied Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen with Heiner Goebbels and Stage and Costume Design in Minuch with Katrin Brack. He is a founder member of the performance group Monster Truck, that produced projects on the cutting edge of theatre and visual arts independently and in city theatres from 2005 to 2022. Pieces by Monster Truck toured internationally and won numerous awards (including the George Tabori Main Prize). Manuel Gerst was awarded the Hein-Heckroth Development Prize for Stage Design in 2019. In 2023 he completed the “Easy Language Course” with Capito Zurich. Since autumn 2023 he has worked on inclusion at the Theaterhaus Gessnerallee in Zurich, where he will be Agent for Diversity from the summer of 2024. He will also continue to work as a director and stage designer.
Mark Schröppel is a director, performer and musician. In addition to his studying Applied Theatre Studies, he works/has worked mainly with his own group SKART and the performance collective Monster Truck. Productions by and with him have been seen at Kampnagel, Hamburg, Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main, Münchner Kammerspielen, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Sophiensæle, Berlin, NT Gent, Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Impulse Theater Festival and the Donau-Festival.
Alisa Tretau studied Social/Cultural Anthropology at FU Berlin, Theatre Directing at HfMT Hamburg and Art in Context at the University of the Arts Berlin. Alisa has worked as a curator, production manager and facilitator with Frauen&Fiktion, Peng, She She Pop, HKW Berlin, UdK Berlin, Viadrina, Frankfurt an der Oder, and many others. As director/writer of e.g. ‘Wüste Zukunft’ (Desolate Future, 2020), ‘Beton Wüste Zukunft’ (Concrete Desolate Future, 2023) and ‘Der verschwundene See’ (The Vanished Lake, 2023), she explores immersive formats. In 2018 Alisa published the collection ‘Nicht nur Mütter waren schwanger’ (Not Only Mothers Were Pregnant).