The question as to what is real and what is not, has interested Christoph Marthaler not just recently. Until now, he and his team could rely on the fact that that which is unreal was not necessarily the perfect fake, but surreal (in the more interesting cases). But times have changed to a pale blue and the loudest undertones are sounding dull. What we need is a focus on essences now, to muster the strength to face the facts. Marthaler and his ensemble have a clear idea how this could work! A happening in disastrous times, an open-ended exploration of the real – that’s the plan. And if you can’t imagine what that could mean, you are the perfect audience! After all, as Emil M. Cioran, sensor of reality from Bucharest, once put it: “Only tears will be weighed at the Last Judgement.”