THE BILL

About the show

Die Rechnung is a dark slapstick comedy directed by British theatre-maker Tim Etchells, based on L’Addition, a work created by Etchells, Bertrand Lesca, and Nasi Voutsas. Originally presented at the Festival d’Avignon in 2023, the German-language production premiered at the Wiener Festwochen in 2024 before arriving at Schauspiel Köln in 2025. Performed by Frank Genser and Christoph Schüchner, the production explores power, hierarchy, and the shifting relationship between those who serve and those who are served. Through physical comedy, repetition, and increasingly absurd variations on a seemingly ordinary encounter, the play exposes the instability of social roles and the contradictions inherent in relationships of authority and submission. Combining minimalist staging with precise physical performance and dark humor, Die Rechnung transforms an everyday situation into a theatrical exploration of control, dependency, and the struggle for dominance.