Artistic direction: Ariel Efraim Ashbel / Text & Performance: Senthuran Varatharajah / Performance & choir direction: Jessica Gadani / Music: Studio LABOUR (Colin Hacklander & Farahnaz Hatam) / Featuring: Show Choir Berlin, Ethan Braun, Ravid Kahalani, Daphna Keen / Costumes: Marquet K. Lee / Lighting: Joseph Wegmann / Stage design: Jonas Droste / Dramaturgy & Assistance direction: Katharina Joy Book / Costume assistance: Kristjana Bjorg Reynisdóttir / Social Media: Keya Singh / Graphic design: Avi Bohbot / Translation: Yezenia León Mezu / Dramaturgy: Anna von Glasenapp
Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends
The Names / שמות
10 Years Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends
- Performance
English /
With German surtitles /
approx. 90 mins.
“The Names /שמות” welcomes you on a sensual, musical, literary journey. How can religious or cultural practices and experimental performance enrich each other? From Arnold Schönberg’s opera “Moses und Aron” to traditional Yemenite sounds to Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”, Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends arrange (pop-)cultural references into a rousing show. Following the traditional Jewish practice of weekly scripture readings, the group takes a passage from the Torah as the basis for a full-length spectacle. A new text by the author Senthuran Varatharajah is brought together with the sound of Studio LABOUR, the voices of the Berlin “Show Choir” and a visually powerful lighting concept by Joseph Wegmann. The result is a new gospel that not only tolerates but celebrates diversity and complexity, renewing the age-old promise of a community that is constantly in the making.
“The Names /שמות” opens a programme cycle to mark 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: After starting the year with “The Names/ שמות”, two holiday salons for Purim and Pesach will take place during spring, culminating in a large scale musical-esque, shenanigan-rich Jewish extravaganza in December.
Cast
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Dates
Past
Notes:
After the performance on 11.1.: Dance with us! at CAN with DJ Kimberly Clark / free admission
After the performance on 14.1.: Artist talk with Ariel Efraim Ashbel and Senthuran Varatharajah
Credits
Production: Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
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.
