Pigs

The most widely consumed animal in Europe, but forbidden in Islam and Judaism – no animal is more ambivalent than the pig. It represents happiness and prosperity, but nobody wants to be called by its name. Humans and pigs are physiologically similar, yet we distance ourselves from them in a way we do with no other animal. Nutrition has become a question of identity and leads to arguments in families and canteens. An awareness of the connections between meat consumption and the climate crisis has risen rapidly, especially among the younger generation, and livestock farmers are under pressure. How do politicians decide, and how do we as consumers? What does it look like, the future of the pig?

In “Pigs”, 30 members of the audience meet pig experts in a digital installation: butchers, animal ethicists, agrarian policy makers, climate activists, pig farmers, religious representatives, scientists and many more. In a process somewhere between digital infotainment and a game of democracy, the audience reflect on their ambivalent relationship to the pig. Then, two analogue limelight hogs enter the moral academy. The actors bring warm tidings from Dionysus, at whose wild parties animals were once torn apart and eaten.

A co-production of the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Schauburg München with the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus/Junges Schauspiel, the Nationaltheater Mannheim with the 2021 German National Garden Show Mannheim, the Schauspiel Hannover, the Schauspiel Stuttgart and the Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin.

Photo: Judith Buss

Photo: Judith Buss

Photo: Judith Buss

Photo: Judith Buss

Photo: Judith Buss

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