At its core, this piece is about the struggle for affordable housing: real estate speculators are forcing a precariously employed young woman out of her old apartment. The first-time nominee for Mülheim, Raphaela Bardutzky, does not address the topic in the form of a hard-hitting social drama, but as a “shock opera,” in which unsettling spirits appear and music is used as a weapon. Because the protagonist's neighbor is deaf, both German and sign language are spoken on stage; the drama also has two levels not only linguistically but also temporally: it takes place simultaneously in Victorian England and in a present where things are at least as creepy as back then. ~ Wolfgang Kralicek

Guest performance: Schauspiel Leipzig