BERLIN — Berlin’s Volksbühne theater recently staged an experimental adaptation of Vincenzo Latronico’s novel “Perfection,” a work noted for its critical exploration of modern lifestyle consumerism and digital nomad culture. The novel, originally published in Italian in 2022 and receiving wider recognition following its English translation last year, focuses on two millennial expatriates, Anna and Tom, living in Berlin during the 2010s. While the book contains minimal plot and dialogue, instead emphasizing routines, social media, and material possessions, the stage production reimagines these elements to engage audiences directly with the novel’s thematic concerns.

Directed by 37-year-old Anta Recke, a German Senegalese artist, the production eschews traditional narrative structure. Featuring six actors dressed in T-shirts labeled “international nobody,” the performers cycle through passages of the text in a mix of English and German, punctuating descriptions of everyday activities with abstract sequences involving wrestling and singing. The theater space was arranged in an arena style, with lighting cast predominantly on the audience to heighten their sense of involvement in the critique of lifestyle and social alienation.

Recke described the performance as a “forum” to provoke reflection on issues including class, gentrification, consumerism, and democracy. She sees the work as a political commentary on Berlin’s recent social dynamics, especially the influx of English-speaking expatriates living in relative detachment from German society during Angela Merkel’s final decade as chancellor. Recke noted that the novel captures a specific moment characterized by both optimism and growing frustration with democratic participation, linking the characters’ loneliness to broader social disengagement.

Latronico, who had initially struggled to find a theatrical adaptation for the novel in Italy due to its unconventional form, welcomed the Volksbühne project for its willingness to “formally reinvent” the story. He highlighted how the novel’s political context has shifted since its original publication, with the earlier period’s “naïve optimism” contrasting sharply with the current global climate marked by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Despite this shift, Latronico hopes that the Berlin audience will recognize the political underpinnings embedded in the narrative.

Audience reactions were mixed. Rahel Fügener, a 28-year-old architect attending the premiere without prior knowledge of the book, found the production resonant and thought-provoking, especially on questions around meaning and purpose. Conversely, Britta Hansen, a long-time Berlin resident and television producer, expressed discomfort not with the critique itself but with the decision to focus on the “privileged, insular lives” depicted in the show, calling the choice “the provocation.”

“Perfection” draws influence from Georges Perec’s 1965 novel “Things: A Story of the Sixties” and has sparked international interest beyond Germany, with theaters in other countries expressing interest in adapting the work for stage and screen. As the novel’s exploration of digital-age disconnection and consumer culture continues to find relevance, the Volksbühne’s production aims to prompt self-reflection among its primarily urban, cosmopolitan audience.