Dear Volksbühne,
with 100 years you might be a granny (still pretty young in comparison to other theaters in Berlin) but you are still sexy and edgy as hell. We had so much fun, you and I. You were one of my first friends here in Berlin and I spend so many hours in the third floor that I can’t even count them. Not only did you make me enjoy so many great pieces, concerts and parties and fashion shows. With your banners you always get my attention and around you I feel somehow safe. You were my favourite place in Berlin when I came here and you still are ranked pretty high. I hope I will spend so much more time with you and I promise to come visit more often.
LOVE!
C.
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by Claudio | Party, Theater
photo: Anna Agliardi
The year 2014 seems to be the year of remembering the past. On the one hand we have 100 years of industrial war, on the other hand we commemorate positive events like the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The last century of European history is very complex. Everything seems connected. Remembering things the right way, is more difficult than we ever imagined. No wonder so many theater makers want to bring real live memories on stage to show the different perspectives.
Our beloved Argentinian choreographer Constanza Macras went to the city of Dresden and talked to eyewitnesses who can remember a city that no longer exists in the same form today. The actions in the piece “The Past” which premiered at Schaubühne this week, refer to the ancient techniques of ars memoriae, whereby in order to recall the thing to be remembered, we first have to find and organise our impressions. The piece explores architectonic places as narrative instruments of our history – in the rewriting of history, for overcoming the wounds of the past, and for understanding contemporary events (personal and global) as part of a constant cycle that we experience as the passing of time. This piece will have a second part that will premiere in Spring 2016. Talented Italian theater photographer Anna Agliardi went for us to the general rehearsal to get some exclusive impressions. Photos and dates after the jump. Read on…
by Claudio | Theater
Berlin is a restless city. Spätis open 24/7, clubnights going on from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning and the high energy of the club kids on speed makes it sometimes hard to find a place to calm down, outside your own four walls. Israeli theater maker Hila Golan, Niva Dloomy and Ariel Nil Levy just released a new magical piece that’s calling attention to the sleep disorders of an entire society. The tale of the Princess and the Pea forms the framework of this theater performance about a world-known phenomenon that affects all parts of society. In this new version the pile of mattresses grows and grows, craving for dreams and relaxation, but a general restlessness keeps us awake.
In continuous self-optimization on the outer and the inner shell, private concerns, constant availability, and last but not least the feeling of helplessness and passive complicity in the face of current world events, the question arises: How can we get sleep? While the actors have to deal with the causes and consequences of ongoing insomnia, their environment becomes more and more unpredictable due to the sophisticated interplay of Christian Maith’s light design and stage design by media artist Mayan Printz. The bright and dark waking hours are captured by Eli Fabrikant’s composed “low-tech music”. You should not miss this performances in English going on now and in December. More pphotos and the dates after the jump.
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by Claudio | Theater
photo: Silke Bauer
The monster of gentrification is eating Berlin’s free spirits and creative culture. Maybe this way of thinking is rather extreme, but what will happen to the so-called “cool neighbourhoods” when all people who are currently living there will not be able to afford it anymore. And much more important: what will happen to our city when the income will strictly determine where you can live. Not so much of a multi-cultural free society in the end. A horrible faith that happened already in so many cities before and that must be stopped in Berlin.
People have been protesting the rapidly rising rents for years at Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg. The theater collective copy &waste created an audio walk that guides right into a conflict zone for living space, money and love. Through the headphones you’ll hear just what it sounds like – the dividing of the loot. The audio walk is called “Nasty Peace” and it is in German, English and Turkish and is created with the participation of the Turkish community living in the neighborhood.
For Nasty Peace, copy&waste returned packing a great deal of research material: conversations with residents, observations of everyday life, sociological, scientific and philosophical texts about property and privatization play as significant a role as Berlin Circle, a piece by Charles Mee inspired by the same source as The Caucasian Chalk Circle and fantasy material such as Game of Thrones and Masters of the Universe. All the dates and the trailer after the jump.
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by Claudio | Kreuzberg, Theater
I remember being quite surprised when my literature teacher told us in school that the friendship between Robinson Crusoe and Friday had a big “Gay” Factor. It is one of the things that are so painfully obvious that you don`t notice it.
Experiencing the theatre performance Fortschritt Karibik at Vierte Welt you will have a large amount of this painful “of course, how could I don’t see it” moments. Both pieces are about the situation in the Caribbean after the earthquake or furthermore the “European” commercialised fantasy of their situation. Even if the topic is rather serious, it does not mean that the pieces lack in humour. In contrary: inside the small theatre inside the Kreuzberg-Center of Kottbusser Tor, a magic box will open in front of you charmingly showing you what kind of self-complacent shitty attitude we have towards the human catastrophe in the Caribbean. I definitely recommend you to watch the piece not only for the stunning performances of sisters in crime Tatiana Saphir and Tamara Saphir but also because of the multitude of experiences and perspectives you will get with just one theater ticket. Photos, dates and a funny/crazy Trailer after the jump.
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by Claudio | Kreuzberg, 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
photo: Pablo Derka
I think nearly nobody from the younger generation of Western Europeans has a concrete idea of what war is all about. It’s quite a different case in Israel where war is a constant threat and alone the three years of compulsory military service have an influence of the young generation’s mindset.
In the fresh new theatre piece of my good friend Santiago Blaum that will premiere this Friday at the Sophiensaele the story revolves around Elik Niv who is an Israeli elite soldier who left his homeland to establish a career as a contemporary dancer in Germany. On the stage he encounters the devil, like in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, and must enter into negotiations with him: reality and fiction, a biography and historical facts melt into one. Like an ego-shooter Elik takes us through video simulations, personal war experiences and beyond borders. Tatiana Saphir, star of our fashion parody Tati the Fruti Salad, is contributing to the piece in the role of a fabulous actress. The dates and more information after the jump.
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by Claudio | Theater
photo: Dario Jacopo Lagana
For great contemporary dance you do not only need amazing performers but also a good space. Luckily our favourite independent theater Sophiensaele has probably one of the most central and beautiful dance stages in town. In terms of dancers you can be sure that inhouse curators like Peter Pleyer (whom we already interviewed before) know where to find the craziest and most talented characters the international dance scene has to offer.
These are just some of the reasons I am excited about the current Tanztage Berlin Festival that present a diverse program full of surprises from January 4-14, 2013. The focus of this year’s edition are the “wild children” of dance in town, meaning the dancers and choreographers that don’t have a typical university degree in dance or choreography but are coming from another context which obviously influences their work. I think this already shows how open-minded the Sophiensaele work. The whole festival is suited also for a Non-German speaking audience. Some recommendations after the jump.
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by Claudio | Theater
Meet Protectorama. She has the blue skin of Smurfette, a red-haired wig from Tori Amos, a sporty avant-gardistic dress by Bernhard Willhelm and crazy high red latex heels stolen from Lady Gaga. She is a world-healing witch and she lives in the world-healing forrest and is mostly babbling on about her world-healing ritual that involves a lot of cell phone LED lights and the random contents of a couple of Kinder surprise eggs. Despite all this extravaganza she talks like a dude.
Last Saturday the Hebbel theatre transformed its HAU1 and HAU2 houses into a multi-disciplinary wonderland of stage art. While the main building at HAU1 was taken over by the performance group basso who transformed it into a Funeral Charade of Poses with multiple installations and performances taking place all over the building, the HAU2 was hosting several experimental performances by young artists from different schools and classes, including students from the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main and from the Institut für Raumexperimente by Olafur Eliasson, UdK Berlin and many more.
A lot of crazy impressions of this magical night, including many more of the lovely Protectorama, right after the jump – on 2 pages…
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by Frank | Theater
Photo: Thea Hoffmann-Axthelm
Well, no family? Or are they living on the other site of the globe in some Venezualen village and practising some obscure Easter rituals and you can’t join them because the flight would cost you all your money you intended to use to party through the summer. Not so much into fetish and darkroom sex either? Well then you don’t have so many options to avoid the usual holiday-deppression then perhaps visiting this small but nice theater festival called Passion Week in Ballhaus Ost. During the Easter weekend the theater fills with artist from around the globe which will create an intense and sizzling atmosphere. Not every perfomance might be your favourite flavor but the combination of all the ideas and situations and a very moderate price are good reasons to join these days of Easter crazyness and passion. Details after the jump.
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by Claudio | Entertainment, Theater
