WHILE HISTORY WRITES ITSELF // 2023

In the While History Writes Itself writers’ workshop initiated by Sasha Marianna Salzmann since January the authors Julia Cimafiejeva, Davit Gabunia, Natalia Graur, Kateryna Penkova, Ivana Sajko, Tanja Šljivar and Marta Górnicka, under the direction of Anastasiia Kosodii and Johannes Kirsten, have investigated how texts for the theatre can be written in light of the cruel reality. Coming from the Post-Yugoslav and post-Soviet regions, they engaged in an exchange about the political parallelisms of their countries of origin regarding the dissolution of state federations, about historical continuities and fissures, about personal perspectives. In readings staged by directors who also come from those regions, the texts created in the workshop will be presented in the Studio Я.
 

27/28/OKTOBER
 

EXTREMIST*INNEN (EXTREMISTS)

by JULIA CIMAFIEJEVA, directed by SASHA MARCH
Translation from Belarusian by Tina Wünschmann
Since the 2020 presidential election and the subsequent protests against its rigged results, the repressions in Belarus have become only harder. People are still arrested by the regime every day. The play tells about the reality of political prisoners in Belarus.
With Lisa Müller, Doğa Gürer, Mathilda Maack, Jan Termin

BARBAREN VON DER ZWIEBELSORTE (BARBARIANS OF THE ONION VARIETY)

by KATERYNA PENKOVA, directed by OLENA APCHEL
Translation from Ukrainian and Polish by Lydia Nagel
Somewhere in Poland. Hania helps Ukrainians who have fled. Her mother Barbara is more than skeptical. Larisa comes from eastern Ukraine and carries a refrigerator around with her. With biting humor, the play feeds on Polish-Ukrainian traumas.
With Sema Poyraz, Mouataz Alshaltouh, Alina Kostyukova & Antonia Maercklin

NATIONALTHEATER: EIN STÜCK (NATIONAL THEATRE: A PLAY)

by TANJA ŠLJIVAR, directed by BOJAN DJORDJEV
Translation from Serbian by Mascha Dabić
Actually a success story. A thirty-year-old woman is appointed artistic director of the acting department of the renowned National Theater in Belgrade. Her life and the 150-year history of the institution merge.
With Edgar Eckert, Aylin Esener & Sarah Liebert

3/4/NOVEMBER
 

WIE ICH MICH IN DIE TOCHTER DES OLIGARCHEN VERLIEBTE (HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH AN OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER)

by DAVIT GABUNIA, directed by DATA TAVADZE
Translation from Georgian by Tamar Muskhelishvili
He and She against the background of Georgian reality 2023. Society is deeply divided. The war in Ukraine and the omnipresent Russian propaganda reinforce this. The trauma of the 2008 war is ever present. Do people settle in or do they revolt? Or do you look for happiness far away, perhaps in Berlin?
With Ana Hauck & Mehmet Yilmaz

JETZT BIST DU NICHT MEHR BLOSS EIN KÖRPER FÜR MICH (NOW YOU'RE NOT JUST A BODY FOR ME)

by NATALIA GRAUR, directed by ROZA SARKISIAN
Translation from Romanian and English by Ciprian Marinescu and Frank Weigand
»What’s the distance between a smart girl and sex? / When does joking around turn into sex? / How does being in the same room turn into sex?« An intense text by Natalia Graur which talks about life in a sexualized society, where patterns of oppression repeat themselves over and over again.
With Flavia Lefevre 

RIFFENSTAHL.UA

Text & Direction ANASTASIIA KOSODII
Translation from Ukrainian by Lydia Nagel
Julia, a young woman who fled to Berlin from the war in Ukraine. Adolf, superstar and singer of the controversial band »Rieffenstahl«, who finally wants to do something good. The Ukrainian refugees come just in time. But well-intentioned is not necessarily good. Julia’s and Adolf’s paths cross in this grotesque musical. Voices from history speak to Julia. But what do the choirs of Berliners and Russians in Berlin want from her?
With Falilou Seck & Linda Vaher
 

THIS IS NOT A PERFORMANCE ABOUT YOUR BEAUTY

Text & Performance IVANA SAJKO, Direction & Video ANNA MALENA GROSS
Translation from Croatian into German by Alida Bremer and into English by Mima Simić.
A performer tells about Potsdamer Straße in Berlin. The street a timeline and path in the history of the city. Different time levels connect with each other. Here stood the sports palace. Here was Herwarth Walden's Sturm-Galerie. The Social Palace. Kleist Park. The women in sight on Kurfürstenstraße. Women clearing rubble after 1945. Above all, the trees of the streets and parks can bear witness to everything.
With Ivana Sajko


In German with English surtitles

Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
Funded by the Federal Government Comissioner for Culture and the Media.

Part of 6. Berliner Herbstsalon 2023 LOST – YOU GO SLAVIA