BECAUSE / STEFAN KAEGI (RIMINI PROTOKOLL)

Because in theatre the phone is switched off.

Because I hear others breathing.
Because we hold our breath together.
Because we are silent together.
Because we release hormones.
Because it’s easier to fall in love with people with whom you have released hormones.
Because I can cry about something that has nothing to do with me.
Because I’m not lonely in theatre.
Because nobody can do theatre alone.
Because people I don’t know sit next to me. Even people I can’t stand.
Because people who would tear each other apart outside can stand next to each other on stage.
Because everyone can do theatre.
Because acting in theatre means acting together.
Because in the end everyone plays their own roles, even if some try to play others.
Because here everything artificial is defeated by children and animals.
Because everyone knows what theatre is.
Because nobody knows.
Because everyone is surprised by what can also be theatre.
Because everything that happens can become theatre.
Because theatre can happen everywhere.
Because the spectators also have a role, even when hiding in the auditorium.
Because performances can be stopped at any time by anyone in the room.
And because that never happens.
Because theatre predicted behaviour long before algorithms existed.
Because time passes here that no spectator has planned.
Because it takes two seconds for applause to break out.
Because theatre has similar rules to politics.
Because I see how it is done in theatre, and then I notice it wherever power is exercised.
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Because complexity can be materialised on the rehearsal stage.
Because here, the indescribable becomes tangible.
Because in theatre things happen that are not written in literature.
Because in theatre the staged and the unforeseen meet.
Because nowhere else are hitches and glitches so exciting.
Because theatre is embarrassing.
Because you can hear a pin drop.
Because nowhere else does nothingness happen with so much weight.
Because we are afraid before the performance. And because we’re relieved afterwards.
Because in theatre I fall asleep among people and can’t separate my dreams from the performance.
Because it’s warm in theatre in winter.
Because memories are made here without being photographed.
Because theatre cannot be collected and sold for too high prices.
Because theatre does not hang around forever.
Because theatre only happens once.

Stefan Kaegi creates documentary theatre plays, audio-interventions and works in the urban environment, often
giving voice to ‘experts’ who are not trained actors. He is one of the founding members of the multi-award winning
collective Rimini Protokoll.