Biotopia. Ein Kölner Bestiarium

A project by Laurenz Leky, Bernd Schlenkrich and René Michaelsen | sounds and video Frederik Werth | costume Melanie Schumacher | assistant director Sümeyye Algan

Premiere October 09, 2020 | Duration approx. 90 minutes

Supported by the Kunststiftung NRW

Cologne is a biotope - and not just in the metaphorical sense. In recent years, public awareness of the abundance of animal species living in Cologne has increased noticeably. Following on from the book Unruhig bleiben. The Kinship of Species in the Chtulucene by American biologist Donna Haraway (2017), the theater management embarks on an urban safari and explores the question of which collaborations between humans and animals already exist or are planned in Cologne. In the idea of alliances that work beyond the boundaries of biological species, Haraway articulates a vision for a new communality in times of climate crisis, which the Theater im Bauturm explores across species in association with collared parakeets, ferrets in the city service and other non-human and human Cologne residents.

Laurenz Leky (theater director), Bernd Schlenkrich (management) and René Michaelsen (dramaturgy) have been running the Theater im Bauturm together since 2016. In addition to their organizational activities, they are also artistically active and regularly produce humorous evenings at their theater that deal with the human desire for pleasure and community as well as the pitfalls and stumbling blocks that stand in the way of its realization. Leky and Michaelsen have been performing the Advent disaster play Weihnachtsfeier with great success since 2016.An industrial accident, which was followed in 2018 by the holiday-skeptical evening Sommerloch. A travel warning followed. With Biotopia. Ein Kölner Bestiarium , Leky, Schlenkrich and Michaelsen tackle a theoretical text for the first time, combining their interest in wild reserves of flora and fauna in their home city with their long-standing fascination for Cologne originals and other endemic plants.