Entry of the "Sisters in the Majority" into the Fortress

On an early Saturday evening, it was 16 July, Lena Försch as Paula and Nadine Antler as Annika moved into Marienberg Fortress. On that day, the sisters Lola, played by Heike Mix, joined their impulsive, chaotic and extremely endearing shared flat as a new flatmate. The format "Sisters in the Majority" was performed at Festungsflimmern high above the city. The three actresses presented a very lively, partly serious, partly very amusing shared flat life to the audience that evening. The improvised theatrical piece lasted just under an hour. Through its experimental and spontaneous character, the audience was drawn fluidly in and through the piece. Every possibility that arose in the course of the piece was seized, every thought grasped by the forelock. The audience could virtually watch the flatmates thinking. It was fascinating and captivating at the same time, how the actresses simply took on everything as it came to them. Sometimes they reacted directly to events, at other times they repeated the words of their counterpart. Particularly slips of the tongue were picked up humorously and skilfully and transformed into wordplay.

From playing Twister, to talking about sheep, discussing bringing a child into the shared flat, to criticising each other personally, everything happened in the flat. It became repeatedly clear that the two sisters were separated and distinguished by quite a lot, which led to regular disputes and conflicts. How different the two were became apparent from their appearance alone: whilst Annika appeared in dungarees with a cap and short hair, Paula appeared smartly dressed with a white top and a strict plait. Paula repeatedly demanded rules, Annika seemed to take life more as it came. Annika was convinced of her talents, whilst Paula saw her sister more as a project and thus as someone in need of help. The language of the two also differed. Paula regularly became poetic, as in the words that her soul was "crumbling", whilst Annika expressed herself directly. Despite all the conflicts, it became clear again and again that the two loved each other nonetheless. Lastly, when a major discussion about Lola broke out towards the end. She had, allegedly unintentionally, eavesdropped on the sisters. In doing so, they stood firm together. It seemed to them like a rare moment of shared opinion. The piece ended with an open ending through a voice-over. The audience was then asked whether this shared flat could survive, which was predominantly denied.

In parts, the piece had the appearance of a psychotherapeutic treatment. It was set in a cosy living room, the actresses often sat on the sofas in the centre of the furnishings and regularly the three sought advice with each other. Often only two of the people were on stage to conduct dialogues. This was usually about the absent flatmate. The sisters repeatedly tried to win Lola over to their side. Lola was portrayed as a "role model" and usually a very exemplary adult. The sisters, by contrast, presented themselves as rather childlike, full of impulsive and unpredictable energy.

The piece contained no monologues and overall little was spoken to the audience, instead there were many dialogues in which the flatmates turned to each other. This made the piece reminiscent of a sitcom. Sometimes the actresses began speaking simultaneously, which was quite naturally caused by the improvisation. In such moments, not everything was briefly understandable, but it gave the piece all the more naturalness. Once a scene was interrupted by a "Halligalli bell" and restarted. That was apparently a kind of emergency switch.

It was truly fascinating to see how the actresses' interaction with each other flowed. Each had her own ideas and thoughts, no shared plan lay before them, yet they created their own in and through the play. Overall, the piece was very enriching through its uncertain course and the constantly new impulses.

In the subsequent conversation with Lena Försch, she recounted that Nadine Antler had been her improv teacher and the two had known each other for 17 years. They had already performed together a lot and came together as a duo for this format last year. As such, they performed in Würzburg and in Hesse, had already had seven performances and had five more planned. Before their first performance, the two sister actresses had undergone special coaching to find their roles. In a very exaggerated form, the two found themselves in the characters quite well. When asked what she liked most about improvisational theatre, the actress answered that it was the experimental character and the audience proximity.

The next performance of "Sisters in the Majority" in Würzburg takes place at Bockshorn on 22 September and a new surprise guest will move into the shared flat. Will this one move out again?