Der Kick (The Kick)

The return of documentary theatre. However, in contrast to the Sixties, there are no figures of power and influence here, no grand narratives. Instead, a journey beyond social boundaries. Purely the present. Andres Veiel and Gesine Schmidt spent six months asking questions and listening to the answers in Potzlow, Brandenburg, where three youths murdered a fourth in 2002. This montage of verbatim accounts by parents, friends and teachers, presented in a stark and focussed production with only two actors, tells of victims and perpetrators until a point is reached where these categories themselves become questionable. This isn’t about understanding, it is an attempt to grasp the incomprehensible.