Abdruckkörper

The Afro-German protagonist of *Abdruckkörper* navigates his body both with and against the prescribed direction. For the direction is marked out. German society is a labyrinth: walls create visibility and exclusion, whilst paths trodden by others form networks of relationships and clusters of capital.

Whiteness is inscribed in the fabric of society. The protagonist, the ‘I’, lurches about.

One’s own body is the stake on the path to the top. It’s heading upwards, isn’t it? It is moved along the path, not voluntarily, not always consciously; it follows the path whilst simultaneously sensing the centrifugal forces, the risk of breaking away. One’s own body is the stake; after all, it is malleable, from within and from without. And society – is it malleable? At what cost?

*Abdruckkörper* marks the theatre debut of film director Yatri Niehaus. The dramatic text was developed as part of the *Unconventional Signs* writing workshop at the Ballhaus Naunynstraße during the 2020/21 season.

The world premiere of this play marks a unique continuity: following *Schwarz Tragen* (Elizabeth Blonzen, 2013), *Mais in Deutschland und anderen Galaxien* (Olivia Wenzel, 2015), *Jung, giftig und Schwarz* (Amina Eisner and Thandi Sebe, 2015), *Walking Large* (Toks Körner, 2017), *Call me Queen* (Thandi Sebe, 2017), *Aesthetics of Colour* (Toks Körner, 2019) and *Courageux! Furchtlos!* (Amina Eisner and Atif Mohammed Nor Hussein, 2021), this is the eighth Afro-German drama to have been created and staged in-house.