When Did You Stop Being a Child?

In spring 2016 Mats Staub developed an interview format for adults together with 8- to 12-year-old “experts in childhood”: in a circus caravan at Schauspielhauses Zürich’s Schiffbau building and the Blickfelder festival adults could talk for half an hour to two children about what they enjoyed doing when they were the same age and what they were afraid of, about everything they have been able to leave behind since and what they miss: what it actually means to be a child–and which parts of that experience they have managed to retain.

These conversations were not recorded–directly after the interview the children acted out what they found most memorable. This material was then used to create a video installation and a theatre performance, both of which were presented at the festival Blickfelder in June 2016.

Initiative, Concept, Direction: Mats Staub
Project co-ordinator, theatre educator: Janna Mohr
Camera: Matthias Stickel
Childhood experts (Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich, Spielclub): Marie Stoffler, Cornelius Fry, Natalie Anna Konecnik, Caio de Oliveira Rosa, Stella Zaccone, Anna Fritz, Michele Guidati, Athina Hoegger, Sophia Isilay, Fiona Bianchi, Marceline Kuster, Torquil Zappa, Cosma Hines