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NippleJesus

by Nick Hornby

Art? Enjoy. Destroy.

“Nothing much happened at first .. After about an hour, I got my first nutter.”

NippJay1 He doesn´t know a thing about art. But being a former bouncer, Dave gets hired to guard a controversial piece of art. “Jesus on the Cross” is ten feet high by six feet wide and was created in a, well, let’s say, different sort of way. There are people out there who won´t like it, and there are many ways of looking at it. While Dave develops his own relation to art and this particular piece, he begins defending it against his wife, the media and a whole bunch of religious fanatics. Then the shit hits the fan. In the end, his troubles come from an unexpected side.

“It’s a great play – Jesse does a fantastic job – he’s so gloriously angry at times – and it’s a riveting play, entertaining, fast-paced, in fact it’s over so quickly that you’re almost disappointed it’s finished.” Jacinta Nandi / TAZ

Nick Hornby´s NippleJesus is a warm and funny examination of our personal perspectives on modern art and the irreverent ways of the contemporary art world . What do we make of art and why? And who gets to decide what is art and what is not? How manipulative is the art world? Nick Hornby has a few interesting suggestions.

Jesse Inman is originally from Birmingham / UK and moved to Germany in 2003. Since then he has worked as a freelance actor and has been involved in various productions at English Theatre Berlin, the most recent of which was Playing Sandwiches, a part of Alan Bennett´s Talking Heads series. Since 2006 he has been working with the Swiss theater company FAR A DAY CAGE, has been an ensemble actor at Theater Basel since 2012. In the summer of 2015 will start acting at Schauspielhaus Wien. Along side theater work he has also been involved in various films such as Julie Delpy’s Countess and Lars von Triers Nymphomaniac.

Nick Hornby is an English writer born in 1957 in Surrey. He studied English at Jesus College, Cambridge. His first book, Fever Pitch (1992), was a huge success, followed by High Fidelity (1995) which was made into a film starring John Cusack and a Broadway musical. About a Boy, also adapted into a film starring Hugh Grant, came out in 1998. Hornby´s other novels are How to be Good (2001), A Long Way Down (2005), Slam (2007), Juliet, Naked (2009) and Funny Girl (2014). His short story collection includes Faith (1998), Not a Star (2000) and Otherwise Pandemonium (2005). He has written numerous essays mostly on music and literature. Hornby received, amongst numerous other awards and prizes, an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Lone Scherfig´s film An Education (2009). He has been given the name “The maestro of the male confessional” for the brilliant portrayal of his male characters in his novels.

Pics: Jesse Inman as Dave: Casey Tower / Nick Hornby: Geraint Lewis

Featuring a post-performance discussion on Tuesday, July 14 in conjunction with Theater Scoutings Berlin!

The 2015 Expat Expo: A Showcase of Wahlberliner

Ongoing Event

2015 Expat Markt

A Sunday market and performance installation featuring the goods and services of international visual artists, business owners and performers as well as a Marktbühne for musicians, dancers, jugglers, magicians and performers of all kinds!

Here are some photos of the 2013 + 2014 Expat Markt!

Stripped

Stripped is the story of a relationship between a man and a woman in their early thirties. The play begins with both of them, in their respective bathrooms, getting ready for their first date; a blind date arranged through a newspaper dating page.

As they dress, they reflect on their fears, feelings and hopes about their imminent meeting. By the time they meet, we – the audience – know a lot about them which has built anticipation for what is to come. It clearly isn’t going to be an easy evening.

Torrents of Rapture

Something’s off with Reggie’s boyfriend. In a fit of protectiveness(?) he’s just locked him in the bathroom like Rapunzel. Miserable and betrayed, Reggie finds solace in his friends – the hairdryer, drill, radio and toilet paper – as well the life affirming classic Torrent of Rapture.

Wildly romantic, idealized and inaccurate it seems to mirror his life exactly until it becomes clear that having a movie for a therapist is not always a good idea. As his world crumbles around him, Reggie finds his inner superhero emerging victorious from the ruins of his shattered dreams.

Told through bad ballet and puppetry, this is Brief Encounter meets Saving Private Ryan via Monty Python style cinema, film music, animation and live song. Torrents of Rapture fuses these sumptuous elements together as it explores the social, civil and human rights themes celebrating the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who have fought for LGBT equality over the past 150 years. The show leaves you overwhelmed, singing and shaking with …Torrents of Rapture.

Torrents of Rapture  was created by Dugald Ferguson  in co-production with Norwich Pride and Norwich Arts Centre. Supported by Arts Council England

Improv Comedy with Good Luck, Barbara!

Berlin’s own Good Luck, Barbara! (USA/CAN) brings their inventive and intelligent brand of improvised comedy to the Expat Expo once more.

Featuring special guests from the Berlin improv community, this show brings together a smorgasbord of different types of improv, including short form, long form and music! And as always, everything is made up in front of your eyes. Like magic. Only funnier.

Blanche

“I don’t want realism. I want magic! I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth.” – that’s Blanche, a refugee of her past and an immigrant to a place where she has to fight for her survival.

Her desire for love, acceptance, but most of all for attention, leaves her looking for an audience – especially since she’s left alone in her own story. Blanche wants to enchant and become enchanted. And because there is no one left to play these games of hers, someone has to be invented. While Blanche is getting trapped in her own net of fantasy and illusion, she turns the audience into witnesses and conspirators, watching and subtly becoming part of her battle on truth and desires.

Blanche is based on the main character from A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. In the version by Lieberman and Strehl, a single character experiments with time, space and consciousness. Throughout, an abandoned Blanche exposes and transforms herself, vanishing from her own world into the world of her audience. The audience affects her decision and mirrors her acting. In return: the stage reflects what the audience projects, followed by a fascinating interplay of perception in which the boundary between reality and fantasy disappears.

Mars One: Venus Zero

MARS ONE: VENUS ZERO is a one-man show exploring the recent outbreak of “Meninism”, an ever-growing backlash against feminism and women’s rights.

The piece will follow our misguided protagonist, Mike, as he prepares his audition tape for the MARS ONE space program (designed to send four individuals to permanently live on Mars in the year 2024) while he ponders the state of the Earth today and his fear of the pending matriarchal takeover.

Using storytelling, music and projection MARS ONE; VENUS ZERO is a provocative piece of interactive theater using the absurd and ridiculous to highlight a real and ever present danger.

Gem Andrews

is an English writer, director and professional musician from Liverpool, UK and has been creating work across the UK since 2004. Gem also works within the participatory arts sector between Berlin and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; facilitating music and writing workshops for young offenders and is particularly interested in creating theater work through the voices of society’s most disenfranchised, in particular the LGBTQ community and the British working classes.

Currently living and working in the Neukölln and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Gem’s ongoing projects include writing the score for Chicken Pox Fox’s upcoming play Betsey Ann and promoting her new critically acclaimed album of original songs, Vancouver.

Richard Gibb

Richard Gibb is a theater maker and storyteller from Aberdeen, Scotland and has been creating work in the UK since 2008. In Newcastle, England he was a part of several theater companies that created original and thought provoking work ranging from walkabout festival performances to immersive storytelling theater. In England, Richard also worked for 6 years in the participatory arts sector, using the context of theater to engage with a wide range of people, from children with disabilities, to adults struggling with homelessness.

Richard is most interested in creating work that is original, relevant and engages with the community in which it exists. He currently lives in Prenzlauer Berg and works all over Berlin.

So Far Away

Through song, performance and installation, Sally Dige narrates the story of a girl who has had a terrible accident; putting her into an unconscious state.

While the world around her tries to get her to wake up, she finds in this dream state she begins to uncover repressed feelings, guilt, dreams and desires within the world of herself.

Why Are We So F**king Dramatic?

Each year, scientists publish roughly 17,000 detailed descriptions of newly discovered animals.

Today we will investigate a new species: the young independent woman. Working with the humor and drama of this creature, this phenomenon is approached with a fake scientific sincerity, saying the obvious and revealing the unsaid.