Gob Squad

Creation (Pictures for Dorian)

Part of “Performing Arts Festival Berlin 2019”

  • Theatre
German /  English /  approx. 100 min

“It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.”

                    ---- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

                   

 

Creation is the realm of gods and artists, who create beauty through sheer will and their own bare hands. But who decides what is beautiful? And what are the concealed mechanisms of power that lie within the triangular relationship of artist, object and viewer? Gob Squad Arts Collective have travelled the world for the past 25 years and now find themselves well and truly middle-aged, with no desire to exit the stage just yet. In Creation (Pictures for Dorian), they are joined onstage by a diverse group of local performers a generation younger and a generation older than themselves. Their aim? To peep behind the vanity-mirror and search for answers to questions of beauty, morality, ageing and power, and to ask why they so crave the eye of the beholder.

                   

The project is inspired by Oscar Wilde’s character, Dorian Gray, who meddles in the domain of the gods with the aid of a magical painting. He suspends the process of ageing and remains young and beautiful forever, at a terrible cost. There’s probably a little bit of Dorian in all of us. But what happens when he is denied the limelight forever?

Cast

Concept and Direction: Gob Squad / Performance: Gob Squad (Johanna Freiburg, Sean Patten, Sharon Smith, Berit Stumpf, Sarah Thom, Bastian Trost, Simon Will) and Berlin guests: Christopher Adams-Cohen, Rojin Anousha, Beatrice Cordua, Dietrich Novak, Naomi Odhiambo, Dieter Rita Scholl / Sound Design: Sebastian Bark, Jeff McGrory / Video Design: Miles Chalcraft, Noam Gorbat / Costume Design: Ingken Benesch / Set Realisation: Lena Mody / Lighting Design and Technical Management: Chris Umney / Dramaturgy and Production Management: Christina Runge / Artistic Assistant: Mat Hand, Amina Nouns / Costume Assistant: Claudia Gali / Set Realisation Assistant: Julia Buntzel / Production Assistant: Ben Mohai / Directing Interns: Patty Kim, Amina Nouns / Gob Squad Management: Eva Hartmann / Touring Manager: Mat Hand / UK Producer: Ayla Suveren

Dates

Past

Credits

Production: Gob Squad and HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Developed with the support from Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, CA. Co-production: Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Leipzig, Wiebaden Biennale, Schlachthaus Theater Bern, LIFT London, Brighton Festival, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. An Imagine 2020 (2.0) Project supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Supported by: Arts Council of England.

Funded by the state of Berlin, Chancellery of the Berlin Senate for Culture and Europe.

Gob Squad Arts Collective received institutional support as part of the concept period (2015-2019) by the Senate Department of Culture and Europe. 

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Location

HAU2
Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin

There 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.

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