On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the Kunstverein in Schwerin will present the performance “Trauerspiel” by artist Luzie Meyer in the historic Perzina Hall.
DE
On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the Art Association for Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Vorpommern will present the performance *Trauerspiel*, created by artist Luzie Meyer, in the historic Perzina Hall in Schwerin. The piece will be performed by actress Leila Gray. The Perzina Hall underwent several functional and ideological transformations in the 20th century—from a concert and performance hall for a piano factory to a printing site for Nazi and later SED publications, and finally to its current use for cultural and educational purposes. In *Trauerspiel* , Meyer explores questions of German identity and repressed grief by examining Baroque forms of representation and questioning their contemporary relevance. Theater—particularly the tragedy in Walter Benjamin’s sense—does not become a narrative of individual fates, as in ancient tragedy, but rather an allegory of sociopolitical developments. Like the angel of history described by Benjamin—who is driven backward into the future—Meyer focuses her attention on the tension between continuity and decay that is inscribed in the historical form of the tragedy. Meyer takes as her starting point an understanding of history as a process shaped by ruptures, shifts in power, and political crises, in order to question both historical and contemporary social and systems of meaning. The play interweaves fictional elements with references to Baroque dramatic texts by Daniel Casper von Lohenstein and Andreas Gryphius, as well as to Margarete Mitscherlich’s *The Inability to Mourn* —a psychoanalytic social critique that examines the repression of experiences of guilt and loss, as well as their aftereffects in the social consciousness of postwar Germany. The voice thus becomes the vehicle for an affective language that negotiates a fragility in the present. Admission is free.
EN
On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the Kunstverein für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Schwerin will present the performance *Trauerspiel* by artist Luzie Meyer in the historic Perzina-Saal. The play will be performed by actress Leila Gray. The Perzina-Saal underwent multiple functional and ideological transformations in the 20th century—from a concert and performance hall for a piano factory to a printing site for Nazi and later SED publications, and on to cultural and educational uses in the present day. In *Trauerspiel*, Meyer explores questions of German identity and repressed grief by examining Baroque forms of representation and questioning their contemporary relevance. Theater—particularly German tragic drama in Walter Benjamin’s sense—thus becomes an allegory of sociopolitical developments, rather than a narrative of individual fates as in ancient tragedy. Like the angel of history described by Benjamin, who is driven backward into the future, Meyer turns her gaze to the tension between continuity and decay inscribed in the historical form of tragedy. In doing so, Meyer takes as her starting point an understanding of history as a process shaped by ruptures, shifts in power, and political crises, in order to question both historical and contemporary systems of meaning. The play interweaves fictional elements with references to Baroque dramatic texts by Daniel Casper von Lohenstein and Andreas Gryphius, as well as to Margarete Mitscherlich’s *Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern*—a psychoanalytic critique that examines the repression of experiences of guilt and loss, as well as their lingering effects on the social consciousness of postwar Germany. The voice becomes a vehicle for an affective language that navigates the fragility of the present. Admission is free.
