by Monika Dobrowlanska/ Catherine Annis/ Paolo Bignamini
TraNET Festival Clashing Classics. Multilingualism on Stage. Second Edition
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_2R28sbdImw
A Co-production by multicultural city e.V. (Berlin), Association au Chapeau Rouge (Avignon), PACTA. dei Teatri (Milan)
Language German, English, Italian, French
German surtitles, suitable for people with heearing impairments
The play deals with topics such as identity, the search for meaning and the pursuit of a better life in an absurd world in a profound and humorous way. Inspired by T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”, the performance uses modern streaming technology to connect three stages in Berlin, Avignon and Milan.
The action takes place in an imaginary theatre that serves as emergency accommodation. Tiresias, a mythological figure, lives and works there as a security guard due to the difficult housing situation in Berlin. With the help of ChatGPT, he plans a trip to New York, but quickly realises that he could get into a lot of trouble there… The use of holograms reflects the blurring of the boundaries between reality and fake. Parallel stories of Minerva and Tom in Avignon and an actress and her assistant in Milan highlight the tensions between art and life.
Following the performances, there will be a transnational post-performance discussion for a small group of up to 10 audience members, including attendees from Avignon and Milan. The discussion will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation.
Interested audience members are asked to register at info@multiculturalcity.eu.
| With
Alex Lee (Berlin) Anaïs Gabay (Avignon) Martina Ribera Saavedra (Avignon) Patrick Séminor (Avignon) Annig Raimondi (Milan) Anna Germani (Milan) Dramaturgy Paolo Bignamini, Monika Dobrowlanska Adaptation Paolo Bignamini Stage direction Monika Dobrowlanska (Berlin), Helen Landau (Avignon), Annig Raimondi (Milan) Video and stage design Yukihiro Ikutani (Berlin), Katja Skladmann (Berlin), Fulvio Michelazzi (Milan) Costume design Katja Skladmann (Berlin), Nir Lagziel (Milan) Sound and lights José Joilan (Avignon), Fulvio Michelazzi (Milan), Maurizio Pisati (Milan) Music Maurizio Pisati (Milan) Assistant director Elisabetta Miracoli (Milan) Live Streaming and Audiovisual Production Lorenzo Mosna (IULM University Milan) Surtitles: IULM University (Milan) Project assistant Valentina Citterio (Avignon University) TraNet project coordination Paola Ranzini (Avignon University) |
Funded by the European Union.
With the kind support of the theaterhaus Berlin, the Polish Institute in Berlin and the Goethe-Institut Berlin.
| Monika Dobrowlanska is a theatre and opera director, author, acting coach and university lecturer. She sees herself as a European director and successfully combines various theatre traditions in her productions. Since 2002, she has been living and working as a freelance director in Berlin, where she has collaborated with the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Hebbel Theater and the Academy of Arts, among others. In 2012, she founded the intercultural artist collective multicultural city. Her work focuses on intercultural productions dealing with the themes of identity and personal and political freedom. For many years, she has been experimenting with multilingualism in her productions in various European countries. She is a lecturer on the Theatre Studies and Interculturality Master’s programme at the University of Luxembourg, where she runs directing seminars.
Helen Landau (Catherine Annis) is a bilingual (French-English) author, actress and stage director with a particular interest in multilingual theatre. She trained as an actress at the Questors Theatre in London. Since moving to France in 1998, she has continued to perform in French, English and multilingual versions of plays and to direct. Paolo Bignamini is a playwright, theatre director and journalist. A particular focus of his work is exploring the relationship between time and space on stage. Alex Lee, born in the United States, is an actor, singer and drag queen. He studied acting at the University of California, Berkeley. He played several theatre roles and appeared in commercials in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Berlin in 2013. As his drag character Viagra Falls, he was part of the Real Housewives of Neukölln, Berlin’s absurd trash drag collective. In recent years, he has been involved in various film projects and has performed his drag cabaret as Viagra Falls at various venues in Berlin. |
Yukihiro Ikutani is a video artist and stage designer. He was born in Japan in 1979 and studied film at Tokyo Zokei University. In 2003, he moved to Berlin and presented his artistic works – videos and installations – at various locations in Europe. He then studied stage design at the Film University Babelsberg. He completed his studies as a master student. Ikutani subsequently established himself successfully in the field of visual and performing arts. He founded the innovative artist collective ELEKTRO KAGURA for performing arts and developed his own method for digital stage design.
Katja Skladmann is a stage and costume designer as well as a visual artist. She was born in Baranovichi (Belarus) in 1986 and has been living and working in Berlin since 2012. She completed her training at the Technical University of Berlin (stage design/scenic space), the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (textile and surface design) and the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts in Minsk, Belarus (degree in fine arts). In her work, she combines visual storytelling with an artistic design approach. Her pieces are often rooted in documentary and historical narratives. Her main themes are flight, displacement, memory, the disappearance of memories and their transformation in the context of time.
