Wenn Kafka auf einem Papiertiger zum Pfirsichblütenquell reitet: Ein Gespräch über zeitgenössische Performance mit Tian Gebing und Christoph Lepschy

This article is a translation of "When Kafka Rode a Paper Tiger Towards the Peach Blossom Spring: A Conversation on Contemporary Performance with Tian Gebing and Christoph Lepschy", published in 2023 in Contemporary German-Chinese Cultures in Dialogue.
Since 2012, Tian Gebing and Christoph Lepschy have collaborated on a number of theatre productions, which are distinguished—among other characteristics—by their bringing together Chinese and German texts and performance cultures. Best-known among these are Totally Happy (2014), 500 Meters (2017), and Heart Chamber Fragments (2021). Taking the premiere of Heart Chamber Fragments as an opportunity for reflection, the following conversation touches on topics such as trans-cultural theatre, displacement, different readings of texts written by Heiner Müller, Franz Kafka, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Tao Yuanming, and divergent understandings of humour. In the last part, it documents the exchange of ideas between Tian and Lepschy for possible future collaborations.