A classroom production for young adults aged 15+

Heimatkleid explores political radicalisation, social media and the subtle ways in which extremist ideas can enter everyday life beneath an initially familiar and appealing surface.

Designed for a touring classroom production, the visual concept had to remain compact, adaptable and easy to transport. A mobile clothing rack and paper shopping bags can be continuously rearranged to create different spatial settings. During the protagonist’s social media posts, the rack becomes an oversized phone-like frame through which the audience watches her perform for an imagined online audience. The shopping bags further connect this world of self-presentation with consumer culture.

The costume develops this idea on a more personal level. Rather than referencing traditional dress directly, the “Heimatkleid” takes the form of an elegant 1950s-inspired silhouette, familiar, feminine and deliberately appealing. A long sash gradually reveals its red reverse and increasingly wraps around the protagonist, transforming from a decorative element into a physical image of ideological entanglement and restriction.