About the work
“Im Spiegelsaal” (In the Hall of Mirrors) is a stage adaptation by Katrin Plötner and Kerstin Behrens of Liv Strömquist's non-fiction comic “Inne i spegelsalen”, first published in Swedish in 2021 and translated into German by Katharina Erben. The comic is structured in five essays that examine beauty ideals from pop-cultural, philosophical and historical angles. The stage version premiered on 5 October 2024 at Staatsschauspiel Dresden, directed by Plötner.
Plot
Using reference figures ranging from Nefertiti to Marilyn Monroe and Kylie Jenner, Strömquist traces how beauty ideals have changed since antiquity and what produces them. At the centre is the question of what the constant confrontation with staged images — amplified by social media — does to people's self-image, and how closely beauty norms are tied to power and gender relations.
Cultural significance
Strömquist is among Europe's most successful feminist comics authors; her books have been translated into more than twenty languages and received awards including the Max und Moritz Prize. Reviews of the Dresden production praised the ensemble's physical, high-tempo performance style, through which the stage version exposes the absurdity of the pursuit of beauty.