On Monday evening, the 14th of November, we were in Aula Minor waiting for the Dieter Cohlen

Casting Show to start. The theatre school Aachen together with Lebenshilfe Aachen prepared a
parody about a German casting show called "RTL real", which stood up for loyalty, honesty and
trust. From my point of view, the play was about how silly those shows usually are. The people
from Lebenshilfe presented that very well by exaggerating each role a bit. They also proved
their vocal and dance talent with some of the show's performances.
In the piece, Juror Dieter Cohlen and his assistant (worried about the rent and the fact that their
show that wasnt getting a lot of attention) were casting for a new musical. The talents, who
presented themselves in different ways on the catwalk, were not spared from though comments
of the very disheartening Dieter Cohlen but they knew how to deal with the situation. A Egyptian
with a creepy mask gave the juror hard answers and pretty Vivian scored with her well-played
crying performance enhanced by her spasm problem. While the landlady Betty ran after Cohlen's
rent, the other talents on the stage also had their chance to shine: Cowboy John, the jewelry
designer Cindy from Wackelzahn, the sponge "Spongebob", Muki Ede (which appears to the
sounds of David Hasselhoff's Baywatch title melody and displays his muscles) and Egyptian
Maskenmann were having a lot of fun and eventually they all landed in the second, decisive
round. In the end all eight talents convinced Dieter Cohlen and his assistant as well as the
audience, who applauded enthusiastically.
Throughout the whole play I didnt even realize or think for a second that these people have
disabilities. On one hand I think it was really hard for them to concentrate for an hour and to
learn the script thoroughly, but on the other hand I believe that their disabilities helped them fit
into their role even better. For example, I saw that Vivian had sudden muscle contractions which
added up to her character which had a tendency to fidget and move around. Although the actors
talked in German, I think that the audience eventually figured out the plot, even though it might
have looked pretty chaotic at times. Anyway, we all laughed for sure.
I really appreciated The Actors from Lebenshilfe for carrying on with their lifes while trying to
overcome the limits imposed by their condition. I strongly believe that society should grant them
more trust and find optimal ways to integrate them so that they have a real chance at a normal
life.