They are all a little crazy. Daniel Ernesto Mueller and Felix Ersig's tics are particularly noticeable — because of noise pollution. Mueller uses a sledgehammer to smash a tower of loudspeakers, letting his tool hit the floor of the Krefeld Heeder factory after each blow; Ersig clatters with porcelain cups that he tries to stack shakily on the floor. In the wonderful rage piece by the Düsseldorf performance collective Hartmannmueller, both trigger crises that the group must deal with: «Crash! Deal with it» — the imperative says it all. What happens is banal. How it happens is full of humor and inspiration.
The hammer causes Virginia Segarra to have a screaming fit, isolating her. A conciliatory embrace from Mueller gradually develops into a ball of people rolling across the floor like a vision of a better world. The cups drive Simon Hartmann (brilliant) to fury, his tirade of abuse humiliates the clumsy man. It is worth seeing how the conflict deescalates in three stages, from a moderate tone to speechless gasps to constructive conversation. No new techniques for conflict resolution, but a strangely beautiful performance that hits the audience.
Again in Düsseldorf, Bilker Bunker, 1 February; www.hartmannmueller.de
