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Berlin International Performing Arts Center

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2020 Expo Info Abend and Artists Mixer

Calling all Berlin-based performing artists! We’re holding an information night and artists’ mixer for our annual festival! Come by on Wednesday, October 30 beginning at 7pm to meet potential collaborators, see our space and find out everything you need to know to apply to have your work included in the festival! Over the past seven years, numerous Expo productions have been created as a result of artists meeting at the festival’s Info Abend and deciding to make new work together.

Since 2013, this annual festival has presented selected performances from the diverse yet often still undiscovered international independent performing arts community of Berlin with a working language of English. Over six evenings featuring one or two evening-length performances, the festival presents a cross section of this community across all performing arts genres and beyond all language barriers. Within ExpLoRE, the newcomer’s platform, the Sunday afternoon is open to smaller formats or work still under development.

The 2020 schedule of programming will be curated by festival founder Daniel Brunet, Producing Artistic Director of English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center, as well as choreographer Olivia Hyunsin Kim and theater director Shlomo Lieberman, from the applications received based on the criteria of artistic excellence, internationalism and creative diversity.

The festival accepts proposals both for world premieres as well as restaging of existing productions and provides financial and dramaturgical support. Over the past seven years, numerous Expo productions have been created as a result of artists meeting at the festival’s Info Abend and deciding to make new work together.

The 2020 edition of the festival will be held from April 19 – April 25, 2020.

This year, we’re looking to showcase one or two professional productions by Berlin-based artists each evening from Monday, April 20 through Saturday, April 25. Works should be between approximately 45 and 105 minutes in length.

We can also consider shorter works for performance  during the day on April 19, 2020.

Learn more about the festival and see the lineup from last year right HERE!

Applications for the 2020 Expo are due by midnight on November 30, 2019 and the complete lineup will be announced on or about January 5, 2020.

Born in East Berlin

30 Jahre Mauerfall / The 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

A bilingual staged reading (with corresponding subtitles) of a new play by Rogelio Martinez, off-site at Stasi Headquarters, Campus for Democracy in “Haus 22” (Ruschestraße 103 in 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg)

In 1988, Bruce Springsteen played a legendary concert in East Germany. 300,000 people showed up, making it the largest concert event in the entire history of the German Democratic Republic.

Born in East Berlin explores the ultimate juxtaposition between the freedom of a rock concert and the captivity of an oppressive government during the time of a great historical and cultural shift. Anne, a spirited road manager from the United States, navigates a labyrinth of Stasi bureaucracy and learns how personal their tactics can be. A sly look at the cost of institutionalized dishonesty and the power of rock and roll.

In cooperation with the Stasi Records Agency

Followed by a post-performance discussion with playwright Rogelio Martinez, director Johanna McKeon and Dagmar Hovestädt (Head of Communications for the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records [BStU]), moderated by Daniel Brunet

Noraland

“The door to the street slammed shut.”

When Nora left her husband and children to pursue her independence, freeing herself from the doll’s house society placed her in, the door slammed so hard it was heard around the world. 1879, also the year in which the incandescent light bulb entered mass production, witnessed the beginning of a debate about individualism, freedom and self-empowerment that is still being conducted today, 140 years later.

After nearly one-and-half centuries, what has changed? Can this prototypical tale of female emancipation be applied to other demographic groups in the 21st century? What role can Henrik Ibsen’s classic play perform in contemporary society? How can it remain as vital as it was in the 19th century without collapsing into clichés and empty proclamations?

A trio of male performers visits a new country, Noraland, putting on Nora’s words like festive dresses, trying to fill her shoes in a heroic yet ridiculous attempt to follow in those (in)famous footsteps.

Rejection (Dirty Granny Tales)

Rejection, which many believe is Dirty Granny’s most successful production thus far, is performed in a way we have never seen before. The team adds another dimension to the narrative of the story, going down paths they have never dared to take before.

The production is inspired by the life of serial killer Ed Gein, which has prompted the creation of various murderous characters in literature and the cinema, including Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s Psycho, brought to the screen by Alfred Hitchcock, and Leatherface in Tobe Hooper’s  film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Dirty Granny’s dark tales are a combination of live acoustic music, puppetry, dance and animation projection, strongly influenced by Tim Burton and The Residents, as well as Manos Hadzidakis, David Bowie, Black Metal and progressive psychedelic rock. They also feature contemporary dance involving dolls and movement in costumes, somewhat reminiscent of Japanese gothic theater.

The story describes the relationship between an authoritarian mother and her son. A mother who didn’t allow her child to feel love from anyone but herself. A child whose only contact with the outside world was through a small window. A child for whom other childrens’ games and smiles always remained inaccessible. His deprived childhood turned him into a repulsive creature and his rejection by humans was inevitable. His need for social contact led him to murder and ultimately to execution. The fairy tale unfolds in the world of the dead. How will the other souls there respond to him? Will they accept him or reject him too?

 

https://vimeo.com/350915549

Please, Repeat After Me

Following a sold-out performance in the 2019 Expo Festival and a rave review in Der Tagesspiegel, we are very pleased to welcome Please, Repeat After Me back for two encore performances!

I have millions of reasons to be crazy; give me one reason to be sane!

Or

Please, Repeat After Me is a play about decision-making and labels.

(We)* are left abandoned in the theater with a real mermaid: a fish incapable of being eaten and a woman incapable of seduction.

But the mermaid is real!

When does a stereotype stop being a stereotype?

When does a refugee stop being a refugee?

When does an actor stop being an actor?

 

Holly-Jane Rahlens

In commemoration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall thirty years ago, New York-born Berlin writer and entertainer Holly-Jane Rahlens will read bilingually from her young adult bestseller, Mauerblümchen (Rowohlt) / Wallflower (Fourth Floor Fiction).

Originally published in 2009, the novella has become a favorite read in German, history and religion/ethics class, grades 8 and up. Now, published in its original English in a new edition, English-language teachers throughout Germany can get in on the action, too.

Wallflower is four hours in the life of Molly Lenzfeld, a sixteen-year-old New Yorker in Berlin. It’s Thanksgiving Day 1989, two weeks after the fall of the Wall. Molly, the daughter of a German-Jewish mother who fled the Nazis in 1938, is off to her mother’s birth house in East Berlin. On the train to Prenzlauer Berg, wallflower Molly meets East German wildflower Mick Maier, nineteen. It’s love at first sight. For both, it’s a journey into an unknown land and a world deep below the city’s streets – a fertile terrain in which to discover each other, the absurdities of the divided city, and, of course, the wonder of love.

This is what the press has said about Wallflower/Mauerblümchen:
A slew of comic scenes embellished with a great love for detail. — Spiegel Online | Powerful and touching — Berliner Zeitung | … an absolute riot! — Aviva-Berlin | … truly hilarious! — FAZ | Have you ever read a novel that made you feel like you could see the movie version in your mind while you were reading it? That’s what I experienced when I read Wallflower.  — Susanne M. Heim »Chicken Soup For the Soul« | A time machine into the past — Deutsche Presse Agentur  | A real eye-opener — Politiken
And this is what German teachers have said about Mauerblümchen:
Eine tolle Geschichte, sehr lebendig erzählt, sehr witzig, kurzweilig. Ein Buch für alle, nicht nur für Mädchen. Ein Buch aber auch für Erwachsene und für die Schulbibliothek. Dort kann es getrost im Register “Geschichte” stehen. – uhb Niedersachsen | Mit augenzwinkerndem Humor erzählt Rahlens von einer Jugendliebe auf den zweiten Blick, von Kettwurst und besonderer Gastfreundschaft – eben von einem Stück deutsch-deutscher Geschichte. — dk Bayern | Gerade die mit tatsächlichen Bahnhofsnamen versehene und dadurch realistisch verankerte Fahrt durch Berlin und das allmähliche Annähern der beiden Hauptcharaktere versinnbildlicht dabei die deutsch-deutsche Vergangenheit anschaulich und gestaltet Geschichte sehr lebensnah. Gerade der offene und dennoch hoffnungsvolle Schluss kann dabei womöglich auch als Allegorie der deutschen Geschichte seit der Wende gelesen werden. – StJ Sachsen-Anhalt | Es ist äußerst reizvoll, die sehr realistische Geschichte mit zu erleben. – frisch Nordrhein-Westfalen

Holly-Jane Rahlens, a born New Yorker, grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and graduated from Queens College (City University of New York). She moved to Berlin, Germany, soon after, where she has lived virtually all her adult life. While remaining an American citizen, she has flourished in the German media world, working in radio, television, and film as an actress, producer and commentator as well as creating a series of highly praised one-woman shows. She writes fiction for readers of all ages. In 2003 her first novel for teens, Prince William, Maximilian Minsky and Me, earned the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis as the best young adult novel published in Germany. In 2006 the Association of Jewish Libraries named it a Sydney Taylor Honor Book. It has since been published in eight languages and was adapted in 2007 into the motion picture Max Minsky and Me, which has garnered praise and awards around the world.

2019 EXP(L)O(RE)

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
This format opens the festival and is dedicated to newcomers, shorter performances and work-in-progress. Spend an entire afternoon taking in seven different performances. In between the performances, you can enjoy fantastic food, luxurious libations and magnificent music by international, Berlin-based musicians. Performances start at 2pm and we open our doors at 1pm.

POSEUR | Performance (2pm)

Directed by Frederika Tsai (Taiwan/ Germany), Written and Performed by Lena Chen (USA/Germany), Music by Alex Weber (Germany), Illustration and Animation by Lucas Paixão (Brazil), Video Design by Effie Wu (Taiwan/Germany), Photography by Edward Isais (USA)

 

Do you like to watch or be watched? She enjoys the feeling of your gaze upon her. Elle Peril is a con artist. Elle Peril is an identity crisis. Elle Peril is the truest lie she ever told.

When a girl from the United States falls victim to a heinous crime, she impulsively moves to Berlin and invents a fictional life to cope with the traumatic consequences.

Inspired by the autobiographic experiences of performance artist and poet Lena Chen, Poseur explores the power andthe peril of living as a woman in the public gaze.

Supported by the Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany and The Tsai Foundation, Boston

 

THE INTERVENTION OF LONELINESS | Interactive Performance (2:45pm)

Concept and Performance by Ming Poon (Singapore/The Netherlands), Photography by Olivia Kwok (Singapore)

We have entered the age of loneliness. Social media, modern work ethics and urban lifestyles all contribute to a system that exposes us to loneliness on a regular basis and on a global scale.

This interactive performance invites the audience to create a space for loneliness to take place. Can we transform loneliness from a place of suffering to become a source of strength?

 

 

 

TEXT ROULETTE | Interactive Performance (3:30 pm)

Created and Performed by Finn O’Branagáin (Australia), Operator Bronwyn Miller (Australia), Design by Clare Testoni (Australia), Composed by Tom Hogan (Australia), Sound Design by Nathan Jamieson (Australia), Dramaturgy by Alexa Taylor (Australia), Photography by David Cox (Australia)

 

It’s hard to know what to say sometimes. Is there a message you need to send?

Maybe you need to tell your crush you can’t stop thinking about them, tell your roommate their sexy role-playing is way too loud, or tell your mom you hate her new tattoo.

If you can’t find the words, play Text Roulette and let Finn O’Branagáin draft them for you – then choose to send, save, delete or ask for a
sign. Sign up to participate or watch it unfold from the safety of the audience.

Sign up form: tinyurl.com/textroulette

 

BANANA PRIDE™ | Theater (4:15 pm)

Directed and Performed by Kysy Fischer (Brazil), Dramaturgy and Performed by Zero Pilnik (Brazil), Performed by Teija Vaittinen (Finland), Performed by Rafuska Marks (Brazil), Devised by ABA NAIA and Paola Pilnik, Scenography by Inga Aleknaviciute (Lithuania), Lighting Design by Thais Nepomuceno (Brazil), Photography by Mari Vass (Brazil)

Banana Pride™ is a party. It’s an exaggeration. It’s an exaggerated party. It’s a farce with hints of music, dance, clichés, and stereotypes. It’s a soap opera. It’s a cabaret night. It’s a glamorous tragedy. It’s a job interview. It’s a provocation. It’s a political act, a feminist act, a celebration, a carnival night. Banana Pride™ is a manifesto.

 

 

 

SOLAR THRESHOLD| Dance Performance (5pm)

Concept and Performance by Maque Pereyra (Bolivia), Costume Design by Paola Bascón (Bolivia) and Maque Pereyra, Sound Design by Mars Dietz (USA), Dramaturgical Support by Verena Melgarejo (Germany/Bolivia), Lighting Design by Hanna Kritten Tangsoo (Estonia/Germany), Drawing by Lucia Ramirez (Bolivia), Photography by Gisela Zárate (Colombia)

Solar Threshold fosters the idea of pleasure, sensuality and spirituality as tools for decolonizing bodies. The vibrations of the voice create a temple of sounds and movement that merges the notions of pleasure, sensuality and spirituality. Ritual chanting is interwoven with reggaeton to generate liminal spaces where new bodies/entities/identities appear.

 

 

SALVATION (GLITTER DOESN’T CARE I’M A BOY) | Music Theater (5:45 pm)

Created and Performed by Shlomi Moto Wagner (Israel), Photography by David Beecroft (Germany)

This science fiction drag ritual is an experimental invocation for a constant distribution of desires based on visions and fantasies Shlomi Moto Wagner has experienced since he was three years old. It explores transformations, mutations and re-manifestations of the idea of being, the sensuality of being a body, the politics of having a body and the poetics of sharing a bodily experience. All bodies are welcome and audience participation is highly encouraged.

Foreign Body_Trio

Bodies that do not fit within the framework of society are treated as “foreign bodies” and are ultimately rejected.

The choreographer wants to look at society through three such bodies. The unfamiliar physical form that the three bodies create explodes stereotypes about the body.

This performance explores how the audience perceives them and questions the meaning of “foreignness” in our society.

Rays

RAYS is an immersive experience, dedicated to the latent nervousness that increasingly permeates our existence. It strives to make visible what usually evades our senses: Wi-Fi signals, the electromagnetic fields of our smart phones, computers and power supply systems…

Working as an antenna, Mirjam Sögner lends her body to these immaterial waves that define the very core of our contemporary existence.

Using no other device than her own organic material, she attempts to receive, detect, synchronize with and amplify these omnipresent signals. She becomes vibration. Vibration becomes body. Energy becomes solid. The line between transmitter and receiver blurs. Will the body eventually dissolve?

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