Insects have a dubious reputation among humans. They sting and bite, crawl into nooks and crannies and are simply disgusting with their spindly legs, antennae and compound eyes, according to popular opinion.

The "bad bugs" want to do something about their creeping demise. With their band of the same name, they travel the country and fight against the destruction of their habitats with a hard shell but a very soft core. Equipped with synthesizers, electric guitars and their voices, they sample the idiosyncratic underground sound of the beetle world in public places and present us with their musical and actionist view of things. They demand nothing less than our solidarity in the fight against the destruction of natural habitats and allow the audience to participate in the transformation towards a diverse, lively and liveable environment in which humans and animals can feel equally at home.

The production gets by with little language, it is also accessible through the music, the songs and the actions with the audience.

The topic of biodiversity and the threat to habitats formed the basis for the development of the play. The target audience is always involved in the research, in this case various sponsor classes and also the Marabu experts, a group of children and young people aged between 6 and 21. The children from the participating classes have painted (fantasy) beetles, which form an important part of the production and the stage design. The beetles reclaim their (living) space. The educational theater material and the accompanying theater workshops encourage people to take action and also offer very practical tips on how to create a better habitat for insects.

Theater Marabu repeatedly addresses aspects of sustainability in its plays. Green electricity has been used in its own venue in the Brotfabrik cultural center for many years.

When it comes to the set (stage and costumes), the company tries to take sustainability aspects into account and to ensure that materials are reused. In addition, the productions are usually in the repertoire for several years, so that the production is also sustainable in terms of the number of performances.

"Bad Bugs" is a co-production of Theater Marabu, Theater Bonn and Beethovenfest Bonn in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, supported by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

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