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What does it mean to be human today? To explore that question, director Susanne Kennedy and multimedia artist Markus Selg take one woman's life as their starting point for ANGELA (a strange loop).


YouTube influencer Angela is followed from her birth to her death and beyond. The journey takes her, together with her close relations, through everyday situations: illness and recovery, waking and sleeping, being born and giving birth, aging and death.


With a multimedia approach Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg explore the new balance of power that exists between bodies, technical objects and machines. ANGELA (a strange loop) takes us on a deep dive into the question of identity and consciousness. Because all the dialogues have been pre-recorded, a subtle gap is created between what’s true and what’s true and false. And where is Angela, in her bedroom, or rather in a tv-studio? The hypothesis is that she is made up of millions of experiences and that some of those were not even her own. Angela might ultimately be just a strange loop, an endless sequence.


‘I like to flirt with the aesthetics of science-fiction, where one place can contain several layers of meaning. We shift from reality to the supernatural, we live in a world, then in another. Dream? Reality? Parallel worlds where one event can be experienced by different people, and thus played by different actors. I’m fascinated by this kind of sensory confusion, which challenges our conception of reality…’

- Susanne Kennedy


"What is still real, what is fake? Those who step into the dreamlike logic will discover a radical and visionary work that is nothing like anything you have ever seen before."

 - The Standard ★★★★


Note! 

This performance uses stroboscopic lighting.


The performance begins with a small intervention by 'elder' Ernestine Comvalius.


PROGRAMME BOOK

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • © Julian Röder

  • Susanne Kennedy, director Markus Selg, stage design

    © Bea Borgers

credits

concept Susanne Kennedy, Markus Selg text Susanne Kennedy direction Susanne Kennedy set design Markus Selg performers Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Kate Strong, Tarren Johnson, Dominic Santia voices Ethan Braun, Rita Kahn Chen, Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Tarren Johnson, Susanne Kennedy, Ruth Rosenfeld, Dominic Santia, Rubina Schuth, Cathal Sheerin, Marie Schleef, Kate Strong sound design Richard Alexander editing Richard Alexander soundtrack Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Richard Alexander live music Diamanda La Berge Dramm video design Rodrik Biersteker, Markus Selg light design Rainer Casper costume design Andra Dumitrascu  dramaturgy Helena Eckert artistic collaboration Friederike Kötter Stage assistant Lili Süper Artistic costume assistant Anna Jannicke, Anastasia Pilepchuk Direction intern Tobias Klett artistic production management Philip Decker technical production manager Sven Nichterlein Stage construction Stefan Pilger international distribution Rui Silveira tour manager Niki Fischer technical tour management Hendrik Borowski sound technician Thorsten Hoppe light operator Sebastian Zamponi many thanks to Nick Drnaso, David OReilly surtitle operator Teresa Linzner production Ultraworld Productions coproduction Wiener Festwochen, Festival d’Automne à Paris & Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, Festival d’Avignon, Holland Festival, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, National Theatre Drama / Prague Crossroads Festival, Romaeuropa Festival, Teatro Nacional de São João, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz general manager Something Great

This performance is made possible by