“Whenever we were there, the neighbours and the grandmas and grandads would always say straight away: ‘Oh, the skinny one and the fat one are back’ – I found that really awful, and then you just stop going out onto the terrace in your swimsuit. So I started worrying about it very early on. I think from the age of 10 or 11, I realised I had to hide something; I didn’t like walking around in shorts. There were even days … when my weight – the number on the scales – was the deciding factor, and I’d say, ‘I’m not going out today.’

From 'Körperoptiminerung’, by Julia Schreiber

Our bodies carry us through the world. Our body is who we are, on the outside. Our body is visible; our thoughts are not. Is ‘the perfect body’ so important for this reason? What does it look like, the perfect body? How many muscles, a bum, breasts, eyebrows, hair, nails? What must be seen, what must be covered; when are we ‘naked’?

Four actresses on stage in a play for everyone aged 14 and over.

Cast

Actors: Bahar Safadi, Marylin Pardo, Minju Kim, Tamara Hermanns

Director: Barbara Kölling

Set design: Michael Lurse

Technical and lighting design: Malte Kochanek, Noah Steinmeier

Assistants: Nadja Ulm, Neele Regner

Theatre education: Anne Haupt