The theaters will be closed in spring 2020, and large groups are no longer allowed to meet.

The Wiesbaden theater group "For Wardrobe No Liability" still has one last performance, then it's over for them too.

For the first time since it was founded in 2000, the nine actors are not allowed on stage.

"It felt like saying goodbye," recalls ensemble member Marc Auel.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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The group does improvisational theatre.

Her pieces thrive on spontaneous input from the audience.

There was no digital replacement back then.

But Auel and his colleague Frederik Malsy become inventive during their forced break.

While the cultural sector is suffering from the consequences of the pandemic, they founded the "Online Krimi Spiel" in summer 2020 - a start-up with which you can hunt criminals online from the comfort of your own home.

The entrepreneurs received the German Innovation Award for their idea on Tuesday in Berlin.

The German Design Council, initiated by the Bundestag in 1953, honors products that take existing concepts one step further and create added value for the user.

The actors have moved the interaction with the audience, which is typical for improvisational theatre, into the digital space.

The participants connect at the same time via the Zoom video conference system - and become investigators.

A game master gives the first clues about the criminal case that needs to be solved.

In groups, the participants investigate in separate zoom rooms.

They collect evidence, discuss clues and conduct interviews.

You slip into the roles of witnesses and perpetrators

The actors of the ensemble slip into the roles of witnesses and perpetrators.

Like so many others, they are currently working remotely.

“We are actors working from home,” says Auel.

However, the ensemble pays attention to an authentic background even without a stage.

They actually wanted to have a vintner play in a vineyard.

In cold November and with a shaky network in the country, however, this idea could not be implemented.

For the role, the actors now go to the basement.

In the game, this becomes the wine store.

Don't they also miss something when the audience is sitting in distant living rooms instead of in the auditorium?

“The contact is incredibly direct.

As improv actors, that's not so alien to us," says Auel.

The participants have to find out who is who in the criminal cases: what dark secret is lurking behind the intact facade of the hit world?

Who kidnapped the beautiful wine queen from Rheinhessen?

And is it pure coincidence that the family patriarch died early?

Auel and Malsy and a team of four case developers have already converted four stories into a digital hands-on game.

They recently designed a case from the “The Three ???” series with Kosmos Verlag.

Their games have struck a chord in the lockdowns

Their games have struck a chord in the lockdowns.

The concept was particularly well received by companies that wanted to bring their employees together during the pandemic.

The actors have already managed 500 company celebrations with their online detective game.

220 people attended the largest.

During the Christmas season they staged twelve games on some days.

About 25,000 amateur investigators took part in the public games.

The start-up wants to organize 1000 games a year in the future, says Auel.

For him, the online crime game is the first company he founded.

As in many companies, the pandemic is causing extraordinary circumstances.

"I only met our first employee in person after seven months," says Auel.

The entrepreneurs developed a digital platform to train new actors.

Employees can use this to call up information about their roles and read them in themselves.

In the pandemic, cultural workers did not have it easy.

When the theaters had to close, many engagements ended.

The start-up offered actors a chance to perform again without a stage.

During this time, many artists began to ponder how relevant culture was for society, says Auel: "For many it was important to have meaning again." 60 actors are now working for the online crime thriller game, spread all over Germany.

Also continue digital crime games

Even if the theaters are allowed to open again indefinitely, Auel and Malsy want to continue their digital crime games.

At the same time, they are thinking about the upcoming warm months and are once again adapting their concept to the new conditions.

"People want to get out and be social again," says Auel.

They will therefore also offer their cases in person in the future.

They have learned lessons from the success of their digital game: The participants can investigate the staged crime scene in different rooms and talk to witnesses and perpetrators - but now without a screen in between.