Much contemporary experimental theatre and many performance practitioners in Germany and Austria share an interest in what one might call the material conditions or the medium of their performances. The article discusses different examples where the sharing of space, language and time in performance and thereby the ‘communicability’ (W. Benjamin) of communication is explored. Directors and writers discussed include H.J. Kapp, W. Golonka, L. Chetouane, R. Pollesch, C. Bosse, J. Szeiler. It is argued that in these cases theatre is done in a political way, because it allows the experience of alterity and opens up a space of potentiality.