Theatre innovation at the 100° Berlin Festival
Creative and innovative productions have made the 100° Berlin Festival one of the most exciting events of independent theatre.
When the 100° Berlin Festival first took place eleven years ago, its refreshing new ideas properly stirred up the theatre, dance and performance scenes. Today the four-day event is one of the most exciting festivals for young theatre-makers in German-speaking countries. During the four days more than a hundred performances will be staged at three locations – at the Theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, the Sophiensaelen in Berlin-Mitte and, for the first time, the Tanzhaus Ost in Prenzlauer Berg. Any independent group can appear; this year there are more than a hundred artists’ groups. The pieces change every hour; a shuttle service taxis the audience up and down the city, from stage to stage.
For example, to the performance of Eselssöhne “Eşek Oğlu Eşek” oder: Wie ich Träger einer hybriden Identität wurde (i.e., Donkey Sons “Eşek Oğlu Eşek”, or How I Came to Bear a Hybrid Identity) by Carla Maria vom Hoff. The play is about the search for one’s own identity, self-images and the images that others have of one. In their performance Was glaubst du, wer ich bin? (i.e., What Do You Think I Am?), Feridun Öztoprak and Kyra Mevert take up a similar theme. Sonya Levin and Marcela Giesche choose a scientific approach to the subject: in Left I – Right I, they treat the different functions of the left and right sides of the brain and ask about the positioning of the “I” in a constantly changing world.
Ideas like these have made the festival into a well-known event in the Berlin and German cultural scene. It supplements the programmes of the large, prestigious Berlin theatres with fresh and innovative productions.
100° Berlin Festival, 20 to 23 February 2014
