by Kirsten Fuchs When a Class Chat Turns into a Nightmare
by Kirsten FuchsWhen a Class Chat Turns into a NightmareA collaboration with students from the “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe” Regional School in Parchim Ages 10 and up Premiere: May 1, 2027
“Go ahead and cry! Delete yourself!”
Class Chat Chorus in*Everyone Except the Unicorn*
Netti gets a stomachache at the thought of getting up. Because something has changed. Not at the breakfast table or in class—but on her phone screen. Because there’s this one chat group: Everyone Except the Unicorn. Everyone’s in on it—only Netti is left out. Because she drew attention to herself by standing up for her friend. Her phone fills up with messages and mean comments. Lies that spread faster than anyone can stop them. And suddenly, it’s not just her classmates writing to her, but also people Netti doesn’t even know. Right in the middle of it all: Fever. She may be new to the class, but she’s the one who decides who belongs. And so even Julius joins in—the very boy Netti once stood up for. Is he the reason for all of this? Or is even that thought already part of the problem?
What do you do when everyone is watching, but even adults offer no solutions? When a single click makes everything worse?
This play portrays the reality of young people with crystal-clear clarity and frightening realism. You see what happens when words online become weapons, and how hard it is to escape them. But you also see what happens when you find the courage not to go along with it and to expose a system that far too often remains hidden. In this production, the Junges Staatstheater is collaborating with 8th and 9th-grade students from the “J. W. v. Goethe” Regional School in Parchim, who are participating in the rehearsal process, contributing their perspectives, and bringing the chat to life on stage as a chorus in the production.
