“This fall, the ‘Hotel of Change’ opens its doors. The guests are activists—local citizens who, while striving for a more just society, often become worn down and exhausted by everyday struggles. STEREO AKT is creating the ‘Hotel of Change’ for them: a fictional wellness oasis in the heart of the city, where the hotel staff—the actors—pay special attention to caring for tired activists. During their time at the hotel, activists and actors create a shared space where guests can exchange experiences, reflect on each other’s and their own causes, and unwind so they can return to their daily battles recharged and with renewed strength.
After 2019, the STEREO AKT company returns to Tübingen’s Zimmertheater. ‘Hotel of Change’ is a documentary performance about activism and grassroots initiatives. In the piece, it’s not only the personal stories of activists that appear—the activists themselves perform alongside the members of the company.
The onstage meeting of actors and activists sheds light on the links between art and activism—two fields often defined by committed community work in pursuit of a larger goal, which, however, all too often leads to self-exploitation and burnout.
‘Hotel of Change’ is about personal struggles and experiences, the complex mechanisms of our society, political change, and hope—above all about those courageous individuals without whom our world would probably turn much more slowly.
Director Martin Boross sums up why the topic matters to him:
‘Our central question was where the fire comes from and what exactly drives activists (and, ideally, theatre-makers as well). And how to feed that fire—passion, curiosity, anger—so it doesn’t go out.
We started from the parallels between us and German activists. We work for causes that stand above the individual, often at the expense of our private lives. We are in a struggle that feels never-ending; we want to have an impact, and we can only achieve impact in community.
Moreover, both the activist and the artist search for stories and retell them again and again: the stories they believe in most.’”
Premiere: November 5 2022, Zimmertheater Tübingen, Löwen Stage
Creator-performers:
Luca Borsos, Emina Messaoudi, László Göndör, Máté Martinkovics
as well as Jackie Andres, Ahmed Arafa, Lucas Leppert, Sofia Porscha, Lin Rückschloss
Scenography / Visual design: Raissa Kankelfitz
Video designer: Máté Bredán
Technical director, lighting design: Stefan Pfeffer
Music: Tara Khozein, Márk Bartha
Producers: Dieter Ripberger, Dániel Mayer
Production assistants: Paula Korneck, Zsuzsanna Balogh
Dramaturg: Gábor Thury
Director: Martin Boross
Co-production partner: Zimmertheater Tübingen
Supporter: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Baden-Württemberg; National Cultural Fund of Hungary
„Hotel of Change is human, has fire, a heart for revolution and the courage to stand up for drastic change and not to accept the world as it is. With its elegant staging, the play gives voice to left-wing realities of life that otherwise often only find a place in Tübingen housing project kitchens.”
Tobias Hauser, Schwäbisches Tagblatt
„In general, a seriousness characterized by curiosity and empathy prevails, which leads to the hotel guests [the activists] really opening up – at the hotel bar, in the elevator, while gardening, during relaxation exercises or in discussion groups. (…) The empathy emanating from the theatermakers carries the evening. The connection between art and activism becomes clear.”
Christoph Ströhle, GEA
