In the solo performance Die bitteren Tränen einiger ehrlicher Erb*innen (The bitter tears of some honest heirs), both heirs and testators take centre stage. For they have never been as close as they are today: those who stand to inherit a lot nowadays do not have to wait for the death of their relatives, but are gifted almost tax-free from the “warm hand”.

In an intoxicating funeral ceremony, performer Charlotte Pfeifer morally questions the relationship between these two perspectives. She reverently attempts to inherit from the living while simultaneously shamelessly interrupting the line of succession. The audience is invited to commemorate the death of someone who is not yet deceased and to gamble with their inheritance in an interactive setting.

In direct dialogue with the performer, the supposed naturalness of family lines of succession and the challenge of one’s own demise are negotiated. What remains in the end? Perhaps the desire to disappear without a trace after death or to risk life and limb.