I bet that

Venue: Box - Wetten, dass..? was more than just an entertainment program for decades: a German Saturday evening ritual that brought together province and world celebrities, club house and Hollywood, excavator bet and pop star performance for a few hours on the same couch. The show thrived on the claim that everyone could watch at the same time — families, groups of friends, entire generations. Their appeal lay not only in betting, but in simultaneity: shared amazement, embarrassment, and sharing.

With the loss of importance of linear television, Wetten lost that..? its actual power. What used to be a national event has increasingly become a format of remembrance. The show was able to continue to fill halls, invite stars and present spectacular bets, but the promise to establish a common presence for one evening became brittle. It ended not simply because no one was watching anymore, but because the media order that had supported it disappeared. Saturday evening, when Germany watched itself amaze, turned into an evening in which they remembered having marveled together once.

BOYS* IN SYNC is a European theatre collective that has already been a guest at the Deutsches Theater as part of the Author's Theatre Days and is now exploring the phenomenon of collective experience in German television culture with Wetten, dass.