The Hells Angels, the depressed, the dog owners, the Hare Krishnas, the disabled, the jobless and countless others are the stars of the show tonight. From the edges of society straight to the center of the stage! A grand- scale SORTIERT EUCH! – Sort yourselves! – public activity has been taking place during the last few weeks at Marienplatz and Schlossplatz in Stuttgart. From the citizens of Stuttgart, neatly sorted into groups, 12 winners were drawn. Each of them won 1000 € and five minutes on stage! You will be able to catch a glimpse of them in the six stage shows about to be put on at the Rampe theatre.
For SORTIERT EUCH! groups of over fifty people had assembled themselves on theatre stages in public places, utterly in silence, under a common motto. They presented a multi-facetted picture of Stuttgart’s people. As spectators they were spectated upon, as alleged outsiders they were the majority. Who is exhibited? Who exhibits? How do communities emerge? Who defines them?
At DISPLAY! SORTIERT EUCH! – THE SHOW the individual emerges from the masses but still can’t disengage. Now the audience falls silent and for the next five minutes the winners of the individual groups will own the stage; be it accompanied by a Harley Davidson, butterfly wings or spiritual music.
You can check out any time, but you can never leave
Starting in July, in SORTIERT EUCH! – THE SHOW we will experience the representatives of the various groups during five-minute- performances on stage at the Rampe theatre. The conditions of the previous outdoor installation have now been reversed: the unprotected public sphere is now the safe space of art performance, but the representatives of the group are facing the audience of the theatre alone.
sortiert euch! -die Show
Against the pigeon-holes in the head by Steffen Becker (Stuttgart nachtkritik)
Stuttgart, Jul 3, 2015
Display! Sortiert Euch! – The artists‘ collective Monster Truck presents fringe groups of society at the Stuttgart Rampe theatre and questions stereotypes
“What are the Hells Angels doing at the Marienplatz” the newspaper BILD wondered. Even the police showed up at the happening staged by the Rampe theatre... The allegation of this exhibition of socially marginalized groups essentially being a human zoo is smashed by the artists of Monster Truck, who use the institution of theatre to destroy the very same clichés it usually lives off. What this shows is on the one hand how much we need this distinction between “Us” and “Them”, but at the same time it becomes clear that none of these designations are natural facts. Any thoughts and expectations originate from ourselves. Since most of these expectations will undoubtedly be negative, Monster Truck turns their stage into a catwalk where these groups can present their unique characteristics proudly.