Music Cabaret: Zwei Waagerecht

Zwei Waagerecht - a puzzling comedy
by Jerry Meyer.

This charming romantic comedy by American playwright Jerry Meyer is a production by Cologne-based theatre company Kirsten Lange. Actors Kirsten Annika Lange and Markus Veith take the audience on a witty and surprisingly moving journey, showing how chance encounters - and even an innocent crossword puzzle - can change everything.

A train from San Francisco to Bay Point. Journey time: exactly one hour and twenty-three minutes. A man and a woman find themselves sitting opposite each other in the same compartment. Seems harmless enough. But a shared crossword becomes the starting point for an exchange that is as funny as it is unexpectedly deep.

The conversation begins tentatively, but as the grid fills up, it grows freer, more intense, more personal. One word truly leads to another. They joke and tease, break things apart and fill them in, help and hinder each other. Their defences crumble, revealing hidden depths: what is the significance of lucky seats? How does one master the art of lateral thinking? What is the secret of Petrarch's sonnets? Who uses pencils and who uses pens? Why do people say 'Bingo!'? And what do you call someone who goes round in circles? One hour and twenty-three minutes - that is all the time they have to solve their own puzzles and perhaps find the answer. - Two across: tender affection, five letters...

Zwei Waagerecht premiered in 2021 and has since toured the German-speaking world to great success. Performed by Kirsten Annika Lange and Markus Veith (both based in North Rhine-Westphalia). Directed by Markus Veith; set and costumes by Judith Bayer.