Reviews

RAPT: a piece of paper for observant minds and thoughtful gazes

María Arenas Romero

02 Feb 2026 • 3 min read

For Zeit für Zirkus 2025 in Cologne, Benjamin Richter presents his work in progress: a blank page on which he blends in with his juggling material.

The streets start to get dark and lighted up around 5 in the afternoon when I arrive at the House of Architecture in Cologne. Benjamin welcomes every visitor to a white box space by offering us each a piece of recycled paper torn from a paper ball the size of a vehicle wheel. I sit in the front row and observe how people either rub or ignore the small piece of paper between their fingertips. I break mine; the brightness and emptiness of this place make me feel intimidated and a bit impatient. People are still talking when Benjamin cautiously enters, holding the paper ball in his arms and taking deliberate steps. Now, the round object has the ability to walk thanks to two long legs dressed in a grey suit. But she soon ceases to be a ball. The performer unrolls the material, pulling out a long strip of paper until something unexpected happens: the paper ball starts crying. Her tears look like potatoes, firmly dropping to the floor. With a clownish look, Benjamin juggles around with some of them and one of the paper strips. The plain background works as a canvas, and the bodies in motion draw sketches in the air, opening up new rooms as they fly before landing back in Benjamin’s hands.

Richter extends his exploration in time and space, playing with the expectations that contemporary circus audience might have. However, he does not conventionally fulfil them. The clarity of the ideas presented in RAPT opens as an invitation to see new imaginaries, give words to a silent speech and confront feelings such as tedium. Unlike in our capitalist society, the series of events presented by Benjamin occurs in a slow and progressive way, and that is what he deals with in this work. As stated in the synopsis: ‘It is an inherently anti-capitalist and decolonising gesture to prioritise care over consumerism, friendliness over domination and truth over pretence.’ The prominence of paper in this performance challenges the viewer to see more of what is shown, opening doors to other ways of understanding and interpretation.

In the minimalist atmosphere of the House of Architecture, a paper ocean was brought to life, a real one for those who closed their eyes. In the mute setting of RAPT, a political discourse found voice out of a confetti billow, as well as the smell of wood filled the room after the show. Nothing is what it looks like. ‘Is it even paper?’ - I asked myself. I could not identify the material anymore after having seen so many different realities of it.

However, the problematic human relationship with the concept of ‘more’ was one of the artist’s inspirations for this work, and towards the end of the piece I found myself being a victim of it: beyond, further, above and extra. I wonder how much we can stop looking for more and deal with the less, stay with it.

Abandoning the performative space and diving into the fuss dynamics of the city leaves me with a different weight in my hands. I was somewhere else, colourless, lighter, easier: more distilled.

In its full version, RAPT premiered on January 24 2026, at the Orangerie Theater in Cologne.

This article is part of the German project ZirkusBlog, which took place during the Zeit für Zirkus 2025 edition in Cologne. The coverage of Zeit für Zirkus - Zeit zum Reden, organised by the BUZZ - Federal Association of Contemporary Circus, is sponsored by the Performing Arts Fund and the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne. The original German texts were published on ZirkusPlus and on the festival website.

RAPT: a piece of paper for observant minds and thoughtful gazes

María Arenas Romero

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