Meinhardt & Krauss cinematic theatre (DE)

The production “ELIZA uncanny love” transfers the ancient myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor who falls in love with his statue, into the 21st century and replaces the statue with a robot with artificial intelligence. The modern Pygmalion becomes an engineer, a programmer who creates a humanoid robot. He falls in love already during the process of creation. He caresses arms and legs long before he assembles them into a whole body. He fills in the missing parts with his own gestures and movements and merges with his creation into a hybrid of human and machine. The robot parts also increasingly come to life, ELIZA becomes an independent counterpart and an uncanny game between dance and technology begins.

“ELIZA deals with the theme of artificial humans in a very concrete and sensual way. Anna Illenberger, who also sings, underpins the stage action with technoid, exciting sounds. The animation of the puppet limbs is admirable, the coordination of the movements of artificial human and human precise.” (Stuttgarter Zeitung, 2019)

The examination of the act of creation runs like a thread through the work of Meinhardt & Krauss cinematic theatre. In their pieces, the Stuttgart-based company combines high-tech and poetry, virtuality and analogue bodies to create their own theatrical language.

The performance will be followed by an artist talk.
Presentation: Prof. Dr. Bettina Brandl-Risi – Institut für Theater- und Medienwissenschaft, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg