Exberliner Issue 167, January 2018

WHAT’S ON — Stage
Natalia Labake
Wish they were here
Should we bemoan the lack of showstopping guest productions in Berlin,
or be grateful for the local talent we have? Why not both? By Daniel Mufson
Editor’s Choice
I
admit it: Sometimes I get homesick
for New York theatre. Or
rather, for theatre in New York.
There’s a difference. It’s not just acclaimed
off-off-Broadway locals like
the Elevator Repair Service, The Civilians
and Radiohole who don’t seem
to make it to Berlin – though even
the renowned Wooster Group hasn’t
played here since 2006. Prominent
guests from Europe also find it easier
to perform across the ocean than right
here in their backyard. Two years ago,
the Berliner Festspiele touted the first
Berlin performance of the worldfamous
Nederlands Dans Theater in 15
years. Fifteen years!
Last month, I again had a queasy
feeling of missing out while my New
York Facebook friends debated the
merits of Ariane Mnouchkine’s A Room
in India, on tour in Manhattan. From
what I hear, it sounds like a sprawling,
wondrous mess of theatrical styles and
worldly themes from the 78-year-old
French theatre titan. It premiered in
Paris in 2016 but there are no plans
to bring it to Berlin – and in fact,
Mnouchkine’s company, Théâtre de
Soleil, hasn’t been here since 2005.
When I spoke about this with
Aenne Quiñones, the theatre curator
at HAU, she pointed out that it’s
not her mission to present a crosssection
of artists from New York or
any other city; instead, she looks for
locally relevant groups who tend to
be part of the “off” or “free” scene.
And HAU often tries to have an ongoing
relationship as a producer of a
particular group’s work.
There is something to be said for
developing a deeper relationship with
artists, rather than presenting a survey
of what’s out there. Boston-born Chris
Kondek is one such repeat invitee to
be grateful for. Now a Berlin local, he’s
designed video for luminaries such as
the Wooster Group, Laurie Anderson
and Meg Stuart. For years, he’s also
collaborated with Christiane Kühl
under the name Doublelucky Productions;
their new work about the “life
tracking” fad, The Hairs of Your Head
Are Numbered, is part of HAU’s January
“Spy on Me” festival, as is a repeat
of last year’s data-mining performance
You Are Out There.
Local artists are even more central
to the Sophiensaele’s programming,
and you’ll see plenty of them at their
annual dance festival, Tanztage. In
Arcadia (photo), for example, the
Berlin- and Buenos Aires-based duo
Ana Laura Lozza and Bárbara Hang
choreograph both bodies and objects
to explore the dynamics of physical
order and disorder. Also at Sophiensaele
this month, an English-language
“unsettled cabaret” called Across the
Middle, Past the East, starring nine
female Middle Eastern Berliners,
promises to bring music and humour
to a serious subject.
The Haus der Berliner Festspiele
is the obvious venue for established
names, though many of their guests
from the past five years aren’t exactly
unknown at other Berlin venues:
Forced Entertainment, Rosas, Robert
Wilson. Festspiele director Thomas
Oberender cites budgetary constraints
but also says he’s aware of “audience
hunger” for large-format theatre and
plans to satisfy it “in the near future.”
For January, he’s offering Requiem
pour L.: Alain Platel, choreographer
for Les Ballets C de la B, will provide
movement and visuals to complement
composer Fabrizio Cassol’s reinterpretation
of Mozart’s Requiem, played
by 14 international musicians and
incorporating styles such as jazz and
Afropop. Not bad... but I still want to
see that Mnouchkine play! n
Tanztage 2018 Jan 5-15 Sophiensaele | Requiem pour L. Jan 18-20, 20:00
Haus der Berliner Festspiele | Doublelucky Productions: The Hairs of
Your Head Are Numbered Jan 18-21 You Are Out There Jan 24-25 HAU2,
in German and English | Across the Middle, Past the East Jan 25-28, 20:00
Sophiensaele Kantine
DON’T MISS
Expat Expo Info Night
Every April, the
English Theatre
hosts a performance
festival showcasing
English-language
artists based in
Berlin. Come by to
meet potential collaborators
and find
out what you need
to do to take part.
Jan 9, 19:00
Nassim
Nassim Soleimanpour,
Berlin-based Iranian
playwright and winner
of last year’s Fringe
First award in Edinburgh,
will perform
in this experiment
in improvisational
staged reading at the
English Theatre. Jan
12, 13, 15-17, 20:00
Colonia Digital: The
Empire Feeds Back
Andcompany&Co.’s
bilingual performance
(English and German)
premieres at
HAU1, imagining the
discovery of a ruined,
antiquated data centre
in the midst of a
desert, a “communist
machine” intended to
help steer Salvador
Allende’s socialist
economy. Jan 19,
20:00; Jan 20, 22,
23, 19:00
JANUARY 2018 37