as part of We are at work

06.02. – 07.02.2026

The Fonds Darstellende Künste (Performing Arts Fund) Residency Grant, in cooperation with the Alliance of International Production Houses, enabled 21 artists and collectives to attempt new concepts in practice. Now all participants have been invited to Düsseldorf for reflection and exchange.

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Tigersʼ Kitchen

EXPECT A TIGER

Performance Theatre & Performance
Mehrere Personen richten an einem Arbeitstisch Speisen auf Tellern an, umgeben von Zutaten und Küchengeräten.

In a dark space is a brightly lit kitchen, a long table for the audience in front of it. On the menu: Four courses as well as stories about the hard work in gastro kitchens. How could this evening become unforgettable while the efforts of everyone involved will be rewarded in equal parts?

The tiger stalks the kitchen personnel in every single restaurant. It needs just one careless moment for it to strike: Something goes awry, and the perfect choreography wherein everyone knows what they must do tumbles out of sync. The pressure, high anyway, becomes unbearable. Everyone knows this moment will inevitably occur every evening, but no one knows when.

Nadja Duesterberg is an actor and a cook. During this evening, she makes visible what otherwise remains hidden: The amount of work that goes into preparing a nice evening for one’s guests – be it in the theatre or at the restaurant. She simultaneously demonstrates the potential that lies in such a congregation. In everyone present, in each course, in every gesture. Cautious connections emerge, strangers become allies, colleagues become friends, guests become a community.

partners in crime

cast

Concept, Direction, Text, Food, Performance: Nadja Duesterberg
Composer: Svea Kirschmeier
With: Immanuel Bartz, Nadja Duesterberg, Svea Kirschmeier, Zeynep Topal
Dramaturgy: Felizitas Stilleke
Dramaturgical Consultant: Anna Bründl
This production was created as part of the project HAUS/DOMA.
Artistic Direction, Scenography, Music: subbotnik
Management: Béla Bisom/transmissions
Assistant: Lisa Hinz
Production Manager: Nora Vollmond
Dramaturgy: Anna Bründl

credits

Funded by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR, #TakeHeart Residency Funding at the FFT Düsseldorf and the Ministry for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.