Rimini Protokoll (Wetzel)

Evros Walk Water 1&2

  • Installation
  • Theatre
German /  English /  approx. 90 minutes

Please notice that “Evros Walk Water 1&2” will be either in English or German depending on the performance.

“We cannot be with you. That’s why you are the musicians and we are the conductors.”

Over the course of an hour, the audience is both a collective of listeners and a temporary orchestra. Given a lifeboat, a plastic gun, a Ferrari toy car and a paddle to play rather than musical instruments, this orchestra is conducted remotely by six young boys, who give instructions to the players through earphones and share their stories, creating a joyful experience of collaboration and narration. Redefining the relation between composition, musician and audience while offering access to the work of John Cage from the source of its humour and concept of liberation.

It started in 2015 when the six youngsters were temporarily housed by the SOCIETY FOR THE CARE OF MINORS in Exarcheia. They had come to Greece from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Pakistan and Syria without their parents. The boys were introduced  to Water Walk (1959), the iconic work by American composer John Cage which is played on household items rather than musical instruments.

The development process with the boys led to the replacement of the original instruments and sounds with different ones reflecting their stories, as they talk about their reasons for fleeing their home countries, their journey to Europe, and their daily life in Athens. The stage is designed in a way which allows the concert to happen without the boys being present: Evros Walk Water (2015).

“Evros Walk Water 1&2” is a reworked and extended version of that first project which has toured several countries. Some of the youngsters are now residents in different European countries; all of them are in the process of becoming adults. Life went on and now new questions arise:
Did you make new friends over there? Are the Swiss more racist than the Dutch? With whom do you play Counter-Strike now?  Do you finally drive a motorbike around Exarcheia? Do you still dream of travelling to Europe? Do you still use hairspray? How do you dance?

“At the end everybody applauds but nobody can exactly tell why or to whom. (...) Evros Walk Water is a complex documentary, an immersive audio piece installation that can be accessed by the audience with ease because they become familiar with these refugee stories in such a direct manner participating in the performance. This has been done so brilliantly that only afterwards you start thinking about how big the effort must have been to adjust all these elements with each other. And it is even more brilliant that the theater makers have disclaimed any big drama in the presentation. (...) It is the human being that stands in the center here, and this is what we should keep about it”. (Rheinische Post)

Cast

With: Abel, Aron, Ehsan, Jawad, Jined, Massoud, Mousse, Omer / English Version: Andreas, Dennis, Elektra, Maria, Nefeli, Orfeas, Thodoris / German Version: Alexander, Anna-Sophie, Arthur, Bela, Daniel, Haris, Jiannis, Justin, Kevin, Kriton, Noah, Noel, Philippos, Zoi / Concept & Direction: Daniel Wetzel / Dramaturgy: Ioanna Valsamidou / Research: Konstantinos Kallivretakis, Ioanna Valsamidou (Evros Walk Water 1) / Research, Assistance: Nefeli Myrodia (Evros Walk Water 2) / Set: Adrianos Zacharias (Evros Walk Water 1), Magda Plevraki (Evros Walk Water 2) / Light objects: Guy Stephanou (Evros Walk Water 2), Michalis Kloukinas (Evros Walk Water 2) / Light: Roger Stieger (Evros Walk Water 1), Martin Schwemin / Sound Artist: Peter Breitenbach / Sound Artist Collaboration: Lampros Pigounis (Evros Walk Water 2) / Sound Support: Panos Tsagarakis / Video: Ehsan / Flute, Kaval: Dimitris Brendas / Set Assistance: Magda Plevraki (Evros Walk Water 1), Maria Kakaroglou (2) / Translation: Bakar Albakar, Abbas Golbas / Research (Sweden): Margarita Gerogianni (Evros Walk Water 2) / Production assistance: Kostas Valsamidis (Evros Walk Water 1) / Production Management: Heidrun Schlegel (Rimini Apparat), Charlotte Streck (Evros Walk Water 1), Violetta Gyra (Evros Walk Water 2), Juliane Männel (Evros Walk Water 2) / Thanks to: Mirella Weingarten, Kurt Scheidegger, design store DMOD Workshop, Society for the Care of Minors, Fotis Parthenidis, Telemachos Tsolis, Dimitra Adamantidou, Eleftheria Lykou, Spyros Tzivelekis, Lukas Alexiou, Theodoros Roumpanis, Valerios Skripkarow / Alice Roorda, Maaike Verbogt, Annelies van der Goot, Roy van Berkum, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Panagiotis Papafragkos, Stavros Triantos, Nikos Ziogas

Dates

Past
  • German premiere
    Wed 14.6.2017, 19:00 / HAU2
  • Wed 14.6.2017, 21:00 / HAU2
  • Thu 15.6.2017, 17:00 / HAU2
  • Thu 15.6.2017, 19:00 / HAU2
  • Thu 15.6.2017, 21:00 / HAU2
  • Fri 16.6.2017, 17:00 / HAU2
  • Fri 16.6.2017, 19:00 / HAU2
  • Fri 16.6.2017, 21:00 / HAU2
  • Sat 17.6.2017, 17:00 / HAU2
  • Sat 17.6.2017, 19:00 / HAU2
  • Sat 17.6.2017, 21:00 / HAU2
  • Sun 18.6.2017, 17:00 / HAU2
  • Sun 18.6.2017, 19:00 / HAU2
  • Sun 18.6.2017, 21:00 / HAU2

Credits

Production: Rimini Apparat and Onassis Cultural Centre / Fast Forward Festival (Athens). Co-produced by HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin).

Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe - Department of Culture. Based on Evros Walk Water – a coproduction by TAK Liechtenstein, Schloßmediale Werdenberg and Rimini Apparat.

[Translate to EN:]

Location

HAU2
Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin

There are two marked parking spots in front of the building. Barrier-free restroom facilities are available. Four relaxed seats are available in the first row of HAU2. Tickets for wheelchair users and accompanying persons can also be booked via the ticketing system. If you need help, please contact our Ticketing & Service team at +49 (0)30 259004-27 or send us an email to tickets@hebbel-am-ufer.de.

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