The European House of Gambling

Theater Rampe has gained an outstanding reputation in the Stuttgart region for its innovative playwriting and cross-genre approaches. Even off stage, the theatre explores contemporary aesthetic praxis with interventions in urban space, artistic research and participative formats.
For its project "The European House of Gambling", Theater Rampe has worked together with the stage director and performer Tanja Krone and the game designer Daniel Boy to develop a mobile performance project in public space in Stuttgart. "The European House of Gambling" was an experimental arrangement which shed light on our views of ownership and capital. The project made use of the casino principle with its dynamic interplay of chance and competition. At its core, it tested the hypothesis that traditions and rituals of gambling could advance social equality and even have an integrative influence. During each "performance", a temporary gambling community was formed which determined the value of work and collectively decided on the rules of the game and the distribution of profits. In this way, the participants engaged in a game in which winning and losing – and by extension, upward and downward social mobility – were constantly renegotiated and lost their disastrous consequences. Following its premiere in Stuttgart, the production went on tour to several European cities.

Artistic director: Tanja Krone
Artists: Daniel Boy, Olf Kreisel, Dragana Bulut (BA), Davis Freeman (BE), Bettina Grahs, Lajos Talamonti, Friedrich Greiling, Johanna Kluhs, Carolin Hochleichter

Additional Venues:

GRAD, Belgrade: June 2018