Tuesday, 1/14/2025
at 7:30 PM


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Man is a mechanical animal.

She became more and more human. But unearthly human. Like a damn killer doll.

I am the human here, there is evidence for that, […]


Two daughters, one older, the other younger. The mother lives alone – and can no longer do things as she used to. A care home is out of the question – but the solution seems crystal clear: Rosie, the new caregiver robot with Artificial Intelligence. But what if Rosie suddenly develops a life of her own? Director Anne Bader stages Christina Kettering's gripping chamber play – addressing current, until recently completely unthinkable themes.

“I’ll be back.” (Terminator)

Rosie is beautiful. Rosie is diligent. Rosie is loving. Rosie understands everything, does everything, never gets tired or moody. Rosie is perfect. Rosie is … a caregiver robot.

Two sisters, one older, the other younger. They know each other inside out, just as only siblings can. The father is no longer around, the mother lives alone. For now. Because: Mom can’t do things as she used to. She is becoming forgetful, weak, the house has become too big. A care home is out of the question after much back and forth, and eventually, the younger sister takes Mom into her own little family – conflicts are programmed. The solution to the family chaos: Rosie. And at first, a happy ending seems to be in sight – with the help of this technological achievement, a flawlessly functioning artificial intelligence that casts all human qualities into shadow.

But what if the machine works so perfectly that it painfully highlights its own human shortcomings? Or what if Rosie starts to evoke pity for someone? Because she is always working? What if she suddenly appears passive-aggressive to us, even though that is nowhere in the user manual? And what if a catastrophe finally occurs behind the door tightly shut by Rosie?

“Black Swan” is a term used to describe an event that occurs unexpectedly but seems predictable in retrospect. Director Anne Bader, along with her team, is dealing with two such phenomena in the Austrian premiere of SCHWARZE SCHWÄNE: the previously inconceivable caregiver robot with artificial intelligence and the reversal of the parent-child relationship—something that supposedly only happens to others.

Cast

with Fabia Matuschek
Elisa Seydel
Merle Wasmuth

Direction and stage Anne Bader
Costume Nina Kroschinske
Composition Matthias Schubert
Dramaturgy Lisa Kerlin

Event data provided by: oeticket