From age 14
People meet. Glances too. Eyes wander. They check here, they look there. The only thing that is clear is that nothing is clear yet. What counts is what not said.
Leute wie die have carried out online research on the subject of flirting, with their own website and interviews. This material was then used to develop the play. What do we say when we're not saying anything?
In FLIRT, (german) sign language and spoken language are intertwined. It is about body language, inbetween tones, inbetween movements and a tilt of the head. It's about initiating and equality. Do you understand something I don't?
Performance: Kathrin-Marén Enders, Rafael Evitan Grombelka, Pia Katharina Jendreizik, Tümay Kılınçel, Pavel Rodionov
Concept, direction: Wera Mahne
Choreography: Tümay Kılınçel
Video, dramaturgy, website/design: Declan Hurley
Set design: Regina Rösing
Production management: Esther Schneider
Communication assistance: Xenia Vitriak, Sophia Rohde
Photos (c) Christian Herrmann, Holger Rudolph
Production: Wera Mahne; Co-production: FFT Düsseldorf; Supported by: Cultural Office of the City of Düsseldorf; Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; Kunststiftung NRW; Van Meeteren Foundation. As part of Take off: Junger Tanz funded by the Cultural Office of the City of Düsseldorf and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Take off: Junger Tanz" is a cooperation between Düsseldorf's cultural, educational and social institutions under the overall direction of Tanzhaus nrw.
Premiere on 22.02.2018
at the FFT Düsseldorf
"It's about getting to know each other, about sparks and about initiations, and the great thing is that it's not just theater that simultaneously translates spoken words into sign language (...) "Flirt" is a bilingual speech-and-show play, spoken and signed on an equal footing, sometimes alternately, sometimes simultaneously."
Rheinische Post, 26.03.2018
"Even if the content of the performance is not necessarily new to deaf people, it was a good laugh. For hearing people, on the other hand, FLIRT should be eye-opening."
Deutsche Gehörlosenzeitung Februar 2018
Laudation by the award jury of the Westwind Festival 2019 in Oberhausen
"Wera Mahne and her ensemble of hearing and deaf actors have explored one of the most complicated processes of all - flirting as the beginning of a relationship, which is often also its end. It's about glances, encounters, touches and misunderstandings. The ensemble plays with gender clichés, lures and entices, embraces, repels and opens itself up to the audience. Whether it's a flirting seminar or the game show "Am I cool?" - Spoken and sign language stand alongside body language as independent forms of communication, are interwoven and complement each other. There is no translation here! Find your own contact with the other person!
At the end of the performance, there is a party on stage to which everyone is invited. You can take selfies, drink smoothies and communicate with the performers. FLIRT is a rousing production that combines cheerfulness and complexity, a sensual exploration full of playfulness and lightness."
Members of the jury: Agnes Lampkin, Stefan Keim, Romi Domkowsky und Florian Fiedler