Versuch, einen Platz in Paris zu erfassen (Attempt to capture a place in Paris)

This existential question preoccupied the avant-garde author Georges Perec in 1974. For three days, he took up residence in a square in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. And meticulously noted down the supposedly everyday. How children eating tarts stroll by, pigeons fly up, the weather and moods change. The result is the book “An attempt to capture a place in Paris”, which is many things at once. A list of astonishing miniature events. A quasi-Buddhist exercise

in value-free perception. Pointe-conscious literature. Rhythmic speech music. And last but not least: the self-portrait of an eccentric author with alternating curves of excitement and exhaustion, whose personal history becomes ever more visible. The actor Christian Fries – himself also an author – has made the work his own. And in this solo performance, he places himself in Perec’s imaginary world. It’s amazing how much happens.