A poem comes into being—and the stage becomes a sound space for a poetic exploration of existence. Thom Luz transforms Inger Christensen's "alphabet" into a musical theater experience that oscillates between wonder, melancholy, and quiet, humorous beauty.
With "alphabet," Inger Christensen begins a playful yet deeply existential re-evaluation of reality. What begins as a simple list of things and perceptions—apricot trees, blackberries, chrome steel, haze—unfolds into a poetic attempt to rename and reorder the world. Arranged alphabetically and strictly following the Fibonacci sequence, a linguistically magical structure emerges in which natural wonders, everyday observations, and disaster scenarios stand side by side. Beauty and threat, knowledge and doubt, beginning and end—all of this intertwines to form a haunting image of our fragile existence.
Thom Luz makes this tension the centerpiece of his stage adaptation. The Swiss director, known for his atmospherically dense, musically infused theater works, transforms Christensen's century-old poem into a shimmering, dreamlike sound theater. Musicians, voices, and sounds merge into a finely nuanced fabric in which words float, fade away, and reappear—like fragments of a world that is constantly rearranging itself.
"alphabet" thus becomes a poetic journey through the questions that have always accompanied us humans: How can life, nature, and experience be described? What role do humans play in a system that is larger than themselves? And what happens when order suddenly breaks down, when silence sets in, when language reaches its limits? With this production, Thom Luz returns to the SchauSpielHaus and creates a theatrical image that is both playful and sad—delicate, enigmatic, full of humor, and with a quiet beauty that lingers long after the curtain falls.
Premiere March 6,
Further performances: March 12 and 25, April 12 and 25, May 12, June 5, 2026
