Roden

Wherever trees are cleared, the living environments undergo radical changes. In “Roden” (“Deforestation”), the audience is invited to a many-faceted exploration of the topic of forest – as a habitat, an economic commodity, a mythological place and a geo-political location. A course across several stations, alternatingly featuring films and performative sequences, interlinks exemplary perspectives from the German region of Bergisches Land, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The audience are seated at various places throughout the stage space. Equipped with virtual reality-goggles, they witness the act of deforestation and the resulting consequences for the lives of the people and their environment as if through a burning lens. The immersive VR-technology allows the filmed pieces to open up impressive insights into local realities. The intelligent combination of this virtual level with analogue acting by the performers in the space lets the audience feel like they are sitting in the middle of the forest and witnessing everything at close quarters.

“Roden” focuses on global perspectives without providing ready-made answers. It opens up spaces for imagination that call upon us to reconsider our own relationship with the exploitation of nature.

Daniel Kötter
Theatre and documentary film director Daniel Kötter has been working in changing constellations with artists from various genres for 20 years. Interdisciplinary and collaborative, documentary and performative practices have frequently brought him to the African continent as well as the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia. Space politics in urban and psycho-geographic contexts constitute a central focus of his work.