Autor*in

Ruth-Maria Thomas and Dana Vowinckel read from their new novels, moderated by Verena Keßler

Great Loves, Subtle Differences

Werk 2

At the MEGA Gym fitness studio, what counts is what the body promises. Managing director Ferhat only hires people whose fitness lifestyle you can actually see. So when the unnamed protagonist is asked about herself at her job interview, she blurts out: "I've just given birth." A spontaneous white lie, and a perfect explanation for why her body seems out of place in this environment. It works: Ferhat hires her, after all, since he is an outspoken feminist. What begins as impersonation soon becomes a grueling training regimen. She becomes a role model in the studio: a single mother fighting the supposed "post-pregnancy body." When the bodybuilder Vick shows up there, the protagonist soon has only one goal: to emulate her. She is drawn into an obsessive vortex of protein tracking and muscle building, until it becomes clear that the invented baby is by no means her only secret. With plenty of humor, author Verena Keßler dissects the world of protein shakes, leg presses and empowerment rhetoric, and along the way exposes the neoliberal promise of self-optimization as absurd. Director Merle Zurawski brings MEGA Gym to the stage and traces the desires and obsessions of this driven protagonist, whose drive toward self-creation soon becomes indistinguishable from self-destruction.

Autor*in

Verena Keßler

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 8, 2027

Gym · Münchner Volkstheater

Past events

Oct 15, 2026

Great Loves, Subtle Differences · Leipziger literarischer Herbst

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