Look Up, We’re Watching

Look up!

Drones are flying in the Kleines Haus – and the world looks beautiful from above. Or does it? What looked like a rehearsal just a moment ago suddenly turns serious. A few young people, somewhere between everyday life and military service, are trying to bring order to the workings of the world, whilst above them, different rules have long since taken hold. The drone is all of these things at once: a toy, a tool, a weapon. It films, delivers, observes. It’s not always clear who’s controlling it. Nor is it clear who’s being watched.

The view pans across parks and rooftops, pops up in backyards, films weddings, surveys fields, delivers parcels – and, almost incidentally, becomes part of a constant surveillance that is barely noticeable. Those who might be seen behave differently. They pause briefly. They sit up straight. Perhaps they put on a show. Or they try not to do exactly that – and in doing so find themselves all the more in the frame.

From this kaleidoscope of perspectives emerges an evening of musical theatre. A darkly humorous comedy about control and the loss of control, about the view from above – and about how quickly one gets used to it. And the question remains: who is actually watching whom here?