What is the difference between the meat on our body and the meat on our plates? Is there really one? Why does our brain rather consider a bunch of oversized fake sausages “meat” while the real meat sits naked on top of it?
For the research to his award-winning piece Requiem for a Piece of Meat theater maker Daniel Hellmann went deep into the cruel realities of the meat production industry. What he found there was both shocking and eye-opening, and turned him and part of his team to veganism. The ways how we humans disassociate a piece of meat from what it really is – a sliced-off piece from a living creature that was killed against its will after enduring a life of torture and mistreatment – is one of the topics he dissects in his piece. But it goes far beyond the treatment of animals and blurred lines of what is the meat on our bones, the meat of an animal and the meat product that goes over the butcher’s counter. It also questions how we treat black bodies and female bodies, and how lust and desire play into our associations with meat.
Nothing that you will see in this piece is done for shock value – in fact, the realities of the things depicted in the play are by far more shocking. Yet, for some theaters, the production was too extreme so it got censored and even canceled. Luckily, Berlin theater people are not so thin-skinned so we can enjoy the German premiere tonight at Ballhaus Ost with encore screenings on the following days. Some impressions and details below.
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by Frank | Theater
The approach to theater by Gal and Matan from The progressive wave is a quite unique and different one than what you might be used to on the stages of Berlin’s independent theater scene. It’s hard to define it sometimes because each piece incorporates different disciplines. For instance their last production Lights & Vessels which was the first part of a theatrical trilogy called Science of Signs presented itself as a lecture on philosophy, alchemy and Kabbala. There were elements of contemporary dance in it, but for the most part it really worked by its own definition.
The second part of the trilogy is called Oráculo and it premieres tonight at Ballhaus Ost as part of the ID Festival with encores on Saturday and Sunday. This time the topics of spirituality and religion are at the core of the piece, but from a very different angle. Embedded into a beautifully elaborate set design that keeps on changing and adapting over time we see different rituals and performative interpretations of religious imagery. It’s a very calming and hypnotic experience to watch this piece, especially the shamanic ritual will really draw you in. There are also a lot of innovative and experimental elements in it that bring in techniques of crafts and arts that are really fascinating to watch. I highly recommend you get tickets for one of the three shows of Oráculo this weekend! Some impressions from the piece below.
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by Frank | Theater
What do Berlin, John Irving and gay men have in common? Right! The love for bears. No other author has so many great bizarre books with bears either as protagonist or as great sidekicks like the American novelist. As if it would be yesterday I remember how I got the novel Hotel New Hampshire as a present for my 17th birthday. Just a few days later I finished the entire 500 pages book and could not wait to read it again.
Based on the short story “The Pension Grillparzer” by John Irving the creative Team Lisa Buchholz, Rob Kraatz and Konstantin Bucholz created a dark twisted theater performance piece called Die Pension that premiered last week at Ballhaus Ost. Between Musik, monologues and dramatic chaos you will enjoy a world that tries to escape the corset of society. The final performance for now is today, so go and see it. Check out the trailer after the jump.
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by Claudio | Theater
A city works like a body. It has its central stomach, its green lungs, its concrete skin and streets like arteries running through it. But what makes the head of a city? And will it run the complete system wisely and without any major incidents or will it bring it to death?
In the new theater game Monypolo II by Thea Hoffmann-Axthelm and Prinzip Gonzo the world as we know it does not exist anymore. Inside an abandoned office building in West Berlin, they created a new one. Here everything is divided by functions and organs all working separately desperately looking for a real leader. Between bureaucratic horror and futuristic sensual experience the play leads you through a universe that has no shape and no purpose. And maybe it is a world without a purpose that makes us silently fear the future we are heading towards.
Take your chance to visit the play until July 21, 2017 and make sure to buy your tickets in time. Our photographic impressions of the play below.
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by Claudio | Theater
photos: Olga Khristolyubova
Big business is a big game that nobody in Berlin really wants to play. The big players of German economy are only visiting town for a chitchat with their creative agency filled with hot interns all hoping for a spectacular career or at least a spectacular Instagram stream. But true fact is, that the real money business is not happening in Berlin. Or maybe we just don’t see it very well.
Creating visibility and an understanding for the mechanics of the dirty business world is not always easy. Therefore I am looking very much forward to the theater game Monypolo in Summer 2016 from the makers of Game of Life. Until then we can prepare our self to play. In a short theater prequel series at Ballhaus Ost several topics around the strategies of business life will be presented during the year. Tonight is the premiere of the third episode. The topic evolves around consultancy companies. Find out the dates of the play here and check out the photos of this trash glam spectacle after the jump.
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by Claudio | Photos, Theater
The good old days of Berlin everybody is constantly mentioning were somewhere in the 90s. There was a period where Berlin was still a Nimbus of freedom. Freedom of thinking loud, acting out and repurposing unused spaces. But between all this freedom some people got lost in drugs, fun, parties and maybe to much carelessness.
In the theater piece “Der Fuchs” premiering tonight at Ballhaus Ost a single character is on stage telling the true story of a typical Berlin 90s biography. Between all the cliches of drugs and techno the piece elaborates on the topic quite intimately and authentic thanks to the talents of actor Daniel Wagner. The stage by Thea Axthelm Hoffmann representing a mixture of artist workspace and hippie loft is in ever changing progression during the play. In front of the eyes of the spectators psychological controversies and abnormal thought chains unfold in a creative space that fails to become a real home. Anna Agliardi collected some photographic impressions for us. More pictures and the dates of the play after the rave.
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by Claudio | Theater
Berlin is the city of the unique (and by unique I mean things that happen just once) events, performances, exhibitions and parties. That is why every halfway culturally interested person has a constant feeling of regret because they just missed something. But fortunately to every rule there is an exception. The big interactive performance event Game of Life by Prinzip Gonzo is returning to Berlin with even more complex characters and situation. In this play you have the chance to reboot your life from the beginning. Which career will you choose, what kinds of friends will you make, what about children and marriage? All these questions are ready to be relived again (and with much more time pressure). If you want to support the project, feel free to do so here or order some of the few tickets left here. The dates and some photographic impressions from last year’s edition after the jump. Read on…
by Claudio | Theater
photos: Olga Khristolyubova
A month ago we already introduced you to the new innovative theater production bodieSLANGuage with a series of animated GIFs inspired by the concept of the play. In September of 2015 the show will go into its second round of performances that will happen from the 3rd till the 6th at 20h at Ballhaus Ost.
We saw the premiere of the piece last month and to be honest, it is the most amazing thing I have seen on a stage in Berlin in a very long time. If you read the first texts about the play you can already understand that it revolves around body language and incorporates sign language using deaf and hearing performers. But it was really impossible for me to imagine how this is going to be translated onto the stage.
The result of the work of the three choreographers from matanicola and the progressive wave and the 8 performers is hard to put into words. The play has several scenes that are quite different from each other. Some I would discribe as moving organic sculptures, other I would describe as traditional contemporary dance performances, some are solo singing acts and monologues or even comedic interludes. The play has a lot to offer and will never get boring and it never seized to amaze and surprise me.
I loved how the play manages to bring the performers together in one moving creature in the beginning and than showcase their very individualistic styles in the solo acts. All of the performers were amazing, but I was particularily impressed – once again – by Gal Naor who is also one of the choreographers (and was part of the House of Haunted House last year by the way). He functions as the medium between the deaf and hearing performers and in his solo parts he manages to be bizarre, gracious and just fucking cool at the same time.
I don’t want to spoil too much about the piece as it lives from its unexpected turns. I urge you to get some of the few tickets left for the upcoming shows this week as I can assure you that you will be impressed, regardless if you are a regular guest or a newbie to the world of independant theater. To warm your appetite we have some captivating impressions from our talented photographer Olga Khristolyubova after the jump.
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by Frank | Photos, Theater
Read my BodieSLANGuange is a series of animated GIFs that we created in collaboration with the choreographer duo matanicola (Nicola Mascia & Matan Zamir) and the Sign Language interpreter and performance artist the progressive wave (Gal Naor). To continue iHeartBerlin’s ventures into the world of theater and dance we came up with this series as a digital add-on to the spectacular play bodieSLANGuage referencing elements of the performance and mixing them with slang and gestures of contemporary youth and pop culture presented in the style of the many popular GIF Tumblrs such as When you live in Berlin. We hope you enjoy it!
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by Frank | Photos, Theater
Did you ever wish you had studied something else? Worked less? Had more holidays? Married somebody else? Or even just did some art or yoga classes instead of being lazy all through your free time? All these regrets belong to the past. Because with the innovative theater and performance concept Game of Life by the collective Prinzip Gonzo you have the unique chance to reboot your life and start from the beginning.
Inside an abandoned warehouse building in Schöneweide stage design genius Thea Hoffmann-Axthelm created a parallel world without boundaries. More then 25 performers will guide through and play with you this challenging three-dimensional game where you can actually win or lose. You can decide if you rather like to drink free martinis all night long or prefer to collect money and karma to be one of the best.
The play is only running from May 16-24 and is also suitable for a non-German speaking audience. Don’t hesitate and reserve a seat to this adventure you will never forget. More photos and the dates and times after the jump.
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by Claudio | Theater
