WE MEET IN PARADISE

A theatrical collage of escape and exile

Photos: Walter Metzner, Silke Meyer, Manuel Grund, La Strada Graz 2008 / Sandra El Hanafi, Clemens Netroy, Luzie Ackers

The soundscapes of the city whittle away as we are drawn to a wooden box roaming around. The journey was long, lasting days, through unknown lands. It searches for a place to arrive. Speechless, they emerge. Where are they? Exile is the name of their destination. Asylum is their hope. They tell tales from their escape and arrival, dreams and fears and how they start their lives anew.

A theatre collage of mask performance, voice recordings and interactive installations.

For this project TheatreFragile worked with refugees and volunteers gathering their stories, listening to their experiences, thoughts and inner struggles to create a piece that offers a different insight to this topic far away from the current heated debate.

For a poetic engagement in public space

Escape. Exile. Asylum. Welcome culture. Statistics. Barriers. Border Control.
Deportation. Are all words that have seized our everyday vocabulary and have 
become part of the norm over the years. We are inundated with pictures of war, 
people on the escape, images of overfilled inflatable boats on the Mediterranean 
and the exhausted faces at European train stations wonít let up.
And then?
What happens to these people that come here?
Through the masses how can one find the individual faces and stories?
How much space are we, as Europeans, ready to give?
TheatreFragile gathered stories from refugees and aid workers to bring the unheard voices to the central focus in a theatrical moment. In this multi layered interactive performance with mask and sound collages, the complex issues of exile are 
poetically presented. Offering a sensory and interactive performance experience to 
a wider and broader audience.


Approach to participants

Through interviews, mask performance workshops, interventions in public spaces individuals are incorporated into the creative process. For the performance, the 
participants form part of the mask ensemble. It creates a space where skin color, 
nationality, origin, social standing and language backgrounds are processed in an open environment.

This production can be 
adapted to the location or venue with a research and rehearsal period with participants or can play on guest performances with the team of the first generation.

Credits

„We meet in paradise" is a production from TheatreFragile under der artistic direction of Luzie Ackers and Marianne Cornil.

Play: Marianne Cornil / Nicole Ratjen & Luzie Ackers / Zeljko Marovic & Workshop Ensemble
Mask: Luzie Ackers
Interview, sound collage : Marianne Cornil
Music, composition: Janko Hanushevsky
Light, set design: Werner Wallner
Coach masc play: Dana Schmidt
Dramaturgie: Laurence Barbasetti
Mask construction: Luzie Ackers & Nicole Ratjen
Costume: Manon Gignoux
Installation: Janna Schaar & Luzie Ackers
Video, documentary: Anna-Maria Schneider
Technic: Florian Mönks
Direction of workshops: Marianne Cornil

Accounting: Doren Gräfendorf
Press: Laurence Barbassetti & Marianne Cornil
Visuals: Silke Meyer
Photo: Walter Meutzner

 

Press reviews

“And so many wished that this was not the conclusion of the theatre piece that this lightness and levity was possible everyday.”

”At the beginning there was a palpable stillness of concentration. At the end a cheerful bustle with music, dance, discussion and a curious exploration.“

Westfälischer Anzeiger | Hamm, Germany
 

“The multinational theatre company from the European Network IN-SITU, TheatreFragile, asserts a viable human utopia with their piece, "We meet in Paradise". Poetic and tender scenes are filled with a myriad of touching details. This is street theatre at its best. Gray figures emerge out of a black box. The frightened wanderers searching for asylum eventually invite the spectators to join them for a meal of warm soup.
Poetic and moving scenes are filled with touching details wrapped in the blanket of night; nevertheless, the scenes offered by TheatreFragile are full of color and warmth. Truly great street theatre.

Die Kleine Zeitung Graz, Austria

„In cubes, the exiles of TheatreFragile bring familiar shores to new lands. TheatreFragile confronts the problem of migration and integration. Two featureless figures materialize from a black box, trying as quietly as possible to gain a foothold; however, despite their efforts, they do not remain undiscovered. Here the trepidation of a life in exile is poetically examined, all while never giving up on common human characteristics.“

Die Kronenzeitung Graz, Austria

„TheatreFragile was a favorite amongst many street theatre connoisseurs. The piece told the stories of migrants very empathetically, yes almost endearingly.“

Täglicher Anzeiger, Holzminden, Germany

„Migration can also be a gift“

Oerol, Terschelling, The Netherlands

„A glimpse of brotherhood and solidarity...“

Le Journal de Saone et Loire, Chalon sur Sâone, France

"We meet in paradise" new version and the tour 2016 is supported by Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen & Kultursekretariat NRW
The participative projekt is supported by: Fonds Soziokultur, Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kulturagentur des Landesverbandes Lippe, Hangar 21 & Sparda Bank Detmold.

The premiere of the 1st version „We meet in paradise“ took place in August 2008 at the La Strada International Festival of Street and Puppet Theatre in Graz, Austria. "We meet in paradise" is an IN SITU, a European Commission platform for the creation of street arts, project. IN SITU was financed with the support of the European Commission Culture Programme 2000.