Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends

Rites of Spring I: PURIMSPIEL

Part of “Spirits, Jinns & Avatars”

10 years Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends

  • Dialogue
  • Music
  • Performance
English /  approx. 120 mins.
A selfie of two people costumed as Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. In the background is a framed picture of the originals.

Purim is the most performative holiday in the Jewish calendar; it celebrates the masquerade, inauthenticity, and the redemptive potential inherent in concealing one's “true” identity. In the Book of Esther, the text at the heart of the Purim ritual, deception is not always a sin. Disobedience, seduction, pride, sexual liberation, and prejudice all play a role in this story, as do bloodlust, revenge, and pettiness. Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends invite audiences to CAN to learn about the traditions of the holiday, perform the Purim play, and add a contemporary twist with their performative language of playfully layering references and taking humor seriously. The evening will be a mix of exuberant cabaret gestures, discussions, readings, costumes, and drinks.

After “The Names /שמות”, “Rites of Spring I: PURIMSPIEL” is another production in the frame of the programme cycle to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Ariel Ashbel and friends. The year 2023 marks 10 years since Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends first showed their work in Germany with “All white people look the same to me” – and this anniversary will be celebrated with several upcoming occasions at HAU, highlighting the potential of articulating contemporary performance through the lens of Jewish tradition.
 

This event can be combined with “Looking at Our Ancestors’ Secrets” by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley at 19:00.

Cast

By and with: Ariel Efraim Ashbel, Katharina Joy Book, Ethan Braun, Jonas Maria Droste, Henrike Kohpeiß, Jessica Gadani, Henrike Kohpeiß, Liz Rosenfeld, Tamara Saphir, Tatiana Saphir, Sarah Thom, Joseph Wegmann / Production: Anna von Glasenapp (High Expectations) / Costumes: Tatiana Saphir

Dates

Past

Further Information

Visitor note

Credits

Production: Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Supported by: Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR.

Location

WAU
Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin

In order to resume restaurant service at WAU in the future, renovation work will take place on the first floor of HAU2 from January until the end of the 2024/25 season. Instead, the bars in HAU1, HAU2 and HAU3 will be open one hour before and after the performances. 

HAU3000 / Positions, Projects, Publications