Kathrin Wagner

I Was Told.

About the show

In I Was Told., Kathrin Wagner combines the power of spoken language with the intensity of object manipulation.

With poetic, autobiographical texts and a gripping stage presence, she invites the audience to question self-perception and the way we look at other people. Her words move, provoke, and inspire, while she sheds light—with humor and depth—on societal expectations and inner conflicts. The piece draws on the dynamics of slam poetry and brings them into unity with contemporary circus performance.

Juggling becomes the visual companion to language, supporting and amplifying its impact. Words and throws condition and influence one another. Authentic, touching, and humorous, she leads the audience to rediscover themselves.

Technic(s)

Interdisciplinary – ring juggling and spoken word poetry

About the company

Kathrin is self-taught, specialized in ring juggling and spoken word. She discovered her passion for contemporary circus through the juggling community, where she also took her first steps on stage in 2011. Since then, she has taken part in numerous workshops on various topics such as creation, dance, composition, dramaturgy, lighting, and the Chekhov technique. She also attended the summer course Juggling and Music at the Stockholm University of the Arts. In recent years, she has had the opportunity to perform in Europe, the USA, and Canada, as well as to teach workshops. Her strong affinity for communication, foreign languages, and the conclusions that can be drawn from them about the cultural identities of speakers led her to a BA in English Studies and, in 2019, to poetry slam. Since then, she has been writing and performing her own texts, mainly in English, German, and French. I Was Told. premiered in 2022 in Odense, Denmark, in collaboration with Dynamo Workspace and the local Spoken Word Festival.

Contributors

Concept/idea, artistic direction:
Kathrin Wagner

Performer:
Kathrin Wagner

Music:
Dorothy Bird

Outside eye:
Elias Oechsner, Joseph Viatte

Zirkus ON mentor:
Cox Ahlers

Costumes:
Bronwen Pattison

Light design
Richard Lu

Funders/Sponsors