Projects

»wa/m/s-g«

»forest/machine/slaughterhouse-prayer«

Performance for two actors on a text by Mehdi Moradpour

A carnal anthem, a sensuous song of praise, a testosterone-filled accusation, a needy gladiator combat, an ode, a litany, a prayer for her/him/it.
Actors Fabian Neupert and Richard Gonlag try to survive in a world full of love, violence and war.

Iranian-born Author Mehdi Moradpour wrote this long poem, this very physical prayer trying to catch his views on this world and mankind in modern times in a new language: German.

Life has become a profit based, calculated machine that has to be fed and never gets enough. No matter if it is for the food industry or war – life has no real value anymore. People are shoved in all directions of the wind, gathered, contained and destroyed, like cattle.
Meat industry. Items in a global economy.

The I and the You in Mehdi's text – whoever they are – try to survive. They fight for love, for breath, for their place under the stars, for their position as man in this world, for their souls, for a purpose in life.
Are they friends, father and son, just one person in different stages of life, lovers, or archenemies? Or all of the above?

We perform the text three times, intermitted by three musical intersections, dissolve the text and into physical images. They hover in space, like words in 3D or entities made of language, used as weapons to achieve something in the other person or in themselves … Survival.

The actors built an inner world out of very personal and direct feelings and images, with which they improvise their actions. Like gladiators in an arena they adapt to environment, music and the audience. They’ve worked with Grotowski and Butoh to achieve this physical state.

© Dean Bell at the Club der Polnischen Versager

Associations of the actors and the composer

COLOURS
black (forest), blue (machine), brown (slaughterhouse)

ASSOCIATIONS/MATERIALS
Forest, the hunt, youth – body/water/gender/game/air/spirit/dream/glass/sand
Machine, battle, warriors – war/dance/love/head/paper/rationality/metal
Slaughterhouse, mass, death – city/blood/sex/animalistic/fire/wood/leather/skin

© Saverio Tonoli
Solo-Performance at the Alte Münze Berlin

Credits

Director: Richard Gonlag

Actors: Fabian Neupert, Richard Gonlag

Music: Munsha, feat. Dennis Depta

Butoh Choreography: 4RUDE, Hikaru Inagawa

Videos/Photos: Dean Bell

Length: about 50 min

Premiere: 15th of June 2017 • Club der Polnischen Versager for the Performing Arts Festivals Berlin

Next performances:

12th Oct. 2017 • Tartu Üliõpilasteatri A-Festival / Festival for Theatre Tartu

10th/11th Nov. 2017 • BrotfabrikBühne Berlin

29th/11th March • Alte Münze Berlin (»slaughterhouse«)

Trailer »wa/m/s-gebet«
Trailer »wa/m/s-gebet«

Projects

  • Wasserwege

    Light route between the Elbe and Weser rivers • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2025

  • Jacqueline

    School days in the GDR • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2025

  • Meteor

    First German Atlantic expedition • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2025

  • Reibholz

    Inland shipping • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2025

  • Hotel Einheit

    Hotels in the GDR • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« in 2024

  • Haus Luxemburg

    Glass industry in Stützerbach • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2024

  • Hotel Lunik

    the former hotel in Eisenhüttenstadt • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2024

  • My Verses Are Like Dynamite

    »Het Onderwater Cabaret« by Curt Bloch • Exibition & Stage play in the Jewish Museum Berlin 2024

  • No Finer Way

    the legendary SS United States • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2023

  • Istanbul

    A Sezen Aksu song recital • Project of »Theater28« 2022/23

  • Sandbank

    Children's health cure on Spiekeroog • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2022

  • Passenger Processing

    the Columbusbahnhof Bremerhaven • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2021

  • Nr. 10

    A film by Alex van Warmerdam 2021

  • How to cry

    Theatre performance by »&sistig« 2021

  • Heimat & Fremde

    the poet Hermann Allmers • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2021

  • Häuser-Fluchten

    Site-specific theatre by »spreeagenten« 2020

  • Audio Drama Enthymesis

    An Audio drama based on Arno Schmidt.

  • Souvenir 1870

    Theatre in the train • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« in 2019

  • »wa/m/s-g« version 2

    Performance for two actors

  • Photoshoot III

    with Jaap de Jonge in Wünsdorf near Zossen

  • WILHELM*INA

    Theatre in the train • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« in 2018

  • Photoshoot II

    with Jaap de Jonge in the tank barracks Bernau

  • Performing Arts Festival

    ProtokollB • Three theatre nights at PAF 2017

  • Digital Digestion

    Protokoll B • Installation & Performance
    Festival 48-h-Neukölln 2016

  • Met Film School

    My collaboration with the Met Film School Berlin

  • Photoshoot

    with Jaap de Jonge in the villa Neue Hakeburg

  • Am Boden

    A theatre play based on Maxim Gorki • Graduation at the theatre school Die Etage

  • Enthymesis

    Theatre Monologue in celebration of Arno Schmidt's 100th birthday