Wald der ver­lore­nen Väter, 2020

The per­for­mance instal­la­tion Wald der ver­lore­nen Väter (For­est of Lost Fathers) is the third immer­sive work by PATHOS 2000 in coop­er­a­tion with Ball­haus Ost. Through the detailed set and the dense nar­ra­tive, vis­i­tors enter the world of the asso­ci­a­tion, in which real­i­ty and fic­tion blur. Over sev­er­al hours, the audi­ence takes part in the club’s var­i­ous pro­gram items, expe­ri­ences inti­mate encoun­ters with the char­ac­ters and dis­cov­ers the camp.

A group of men live in the for­est. They have tem­porar­i­ly left their fam­i­lies to find them­selves and their mas­culin­i­ty. Under the mot­to “Father, Man, Human” they live in the self-orga­nized asso­ci­a­tion “For­est of Con­nect­ed Fathers” in order to over­come the pater­nal cri­sis of mean­ing and be able to return to the out­side world. But how do you become a bet­ter man? The res­i­dents have decid­ed to go pub­lic with this ques­tion. On the open days they want to present their sit­u­a­tion and win new friends for the club.