Direction: Ariel Efraim Ashbel / Research and concept: Romm Lewkowicz / By and with: Santiago Blaum, Jessica Gadani, Tamara Saphir, Tatiana Saphir, Jan-Sebastian Šuba / Featuring: Hacklander\ Hatam, Mat Hand / Head of Visuals: Alona Rodeh / Costumes: Sandra Fink / Musical direction: Yoni Silver / Technology and technical direction: Yair Reshef / Lighting: Andreas Harder / Outside Eye: Stefanie Wenner / Assistant director: Joseph Wegmann / Production Intern: Daniel Sauermilch / Production and Press: björn & björn
Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends
The Empire Strikes Back: Kingdom of the Synthetic
- Performance
85 min
“The Empire Strikes Back" is an experiment in sci-fi anthropology. Suffused with nostalgia for Empire, Ariel Efraim Ashbel takes his ensemble of performers, musicians, scientists, artifacts and robots on a voyage through the history of the future, the future of race and the science of difference. A work of visual and ideological hybridism, "The Empire Strikes Back" indulges in the arresting representational fierceness of Empire, while declaring war on both the violent racist legacies of 'humanism' and the uncreative dystopia of identity politics.
“The Empire Strikes Back” is the sequel to the piece “All White People Look The Same To Me,” which was the international troupe's debut in HAU3 in 2013. In an exuberant, hybrid revue, Ashbel's new work plays with a wide range of historical, textual, visual and musical references from Afrofuturism to constructivism, science fiction and Techno-culture. Taking off where his last show concluded, the Empire strikes at a further sensual, spatial and choreographic abstraction: from identity to the body; from representation to surface; from White people to the black box of the theater. Faced with fierce humanist resistance, Ashbel's mob of freedom fighters combats evil lords, opening up a horizon of new theatrical mutations and unimaginable spectacles.
dasimperiumschlaegtzurueck.tumblr.com
Production: Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Kampnagel (Hamburg), FFT (Düsseldorf). Funded by Capital Culture Fund Berlin.
Cast
Dates
Past
Location
HAU2
Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 BerlinThere 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.
Latest information for arrival:
There is currently a construction site on Hallesches Ufer between Wilhelmstraße and Möckernbrücke underground station. There is a divided replacement route for pedestrians (right) and cyclists (left), which are separated by a yellow ground line. The carriageway is narrowed to one lane.
Travelling to HAU2 via U Hallesches Tor:
If you are coming from Hallesches Tor underground station, you will have to use an alternative footpath from Wilhelmstraße / Hallesches Ufer junction, which is separated from the carriageway by a construction fence – the actual footpath is currently closed. Please note: the alternative route is also used by cyclists. Pedestrians should keep to the right. We therefore currently recommend that visually impaired or blind visitors come to the HAU with an accompanying person.
Arrival HAU2 via U Möckernbrücke:
When you leave Möckernbrücke underground station, please stay on the footpath on the canal side until you reach Hallesches Ufer / Großbeerenstraße junction – the opposite side is currently closed due to construction work.
