Schmerz Camp

Seven women in a renowned, surreal pain clinic: Caught in an endless circle of therapies and doctor appointments, the patients test medications, do pottery, meditate, exercise – but the pain stays. It seems that nothing happens to the women in the clinic and yet everything is in constant but minimal movement. Time moves differently here.
Within the play, the aging, female-coded body is a central motif. Language and dialogues are based on real conversations and clinical questionaires – they are enriched by choir-like passages, poetry and performative natural imagery, which open a new dimension: Where do we find consolation and how could a path through pain look like?17% of the German population suffer from chronic pain, 80% of these affected are women. Schmerz Camp is a plead for listening earnestly, for more attentiveness and a more solidary community. Patty Kim Hamilton looks for the ordinary, the humor, the tenderness and the simple in front of the dark abyss and finds...