Aufzeichnungen aus einem weißen Zimmer  (UA)

Two siblings are at the centre of these “notes from a white room”. We see the story through their eyes. Both of them can hear, see, feel and understand language, and yet they find it hard to understand their environment. Because it is not always logical.

Some of the things that are said are correct: The water is wet. Others things are incorrect: The hair is red. But the hair is orange. And yet we say that the hair is red. Even though it is orange. ‘Don’t lie’ is a rule. We’re supposed to tell the truth. But when they ask us what we’re thinking about and we’re thinking that the man opposite us smells of cigarettes and sweat, we’re not supposed to tell him that he stinks. That might hurt the him. We’re not supposed to lie. And we’re not supposed to tell the truth if it makes someone feel bad.

It’s hard to understand. And so are many other unwritten rules of social communication. That is why the two siblings only live at home with their family temporarily and spend most of their time in white rooms. In different houses, one after the other. Surrounded by doctors and nursing staff. And other people who have been diagnosed, whose way of feeling and experienced has been classified as pathological. Not exactly ‘wrong’, but ‘not normal’ to say the least. It is a life according to the parameters of a society whose premises they don’t share but by whose standards they are assessed. And so the two of them find themselves in situations where the full force of the system takes hold of them. Although or perhaps exactly because they are trying to follow these mysterious rules as precisely as they can.

The world of medical experts has a term for this experience: This neurological development disorder is called autism spectrum disorder. Its manifestations are as complex and diverse as the persons affected by it. Their point of view has recently been repeatedly published in autobiographical stories. In her text, Anna Behringer gives them a place on the theatre stage.