Concept & Direction: Gob Squad / Performed and devised by: Inas Abdul Majid, Jenin Abdul Majid, Ayah Al-Ghaily, Gizem Akman, Bernhard, Setara Bobani, Yusuf Efe Caliskan, Johanna Freiburg, Azadeh Ganjeh, Haifa, Sean Patten, Lamisha Rahman, Salma Salaheldin, Sharon Smith, Berit Stumpf, Sarah Thom, Bastian Trost, Simon Will; Clinic of Broken Things; KiezKochen (Alessia del Vigo, Miriam D., Mo Mara Hundt, Jacqueline Koch, Renate Kutscher, Kenan Oymak, Reinhild Religion and Katarina Stricevic); choir „Eskimeyenler topluluğu“ / “Timeless Community” (Alev Bilge, Talip Gözdereliler, Mahire Güler-Selek, Kiraz Akyar Hörold, Meltem Kazancioglu, Gülay Kösker, Sabri Kömürcü, Güllü Sert, Berrin Ulutürk, Songül Uzunpinar, Gönül Vapurcu, Emine Zwanzig) accompanied by Askin Aras (piano) and under the direction of Askin Büyükuzun / Choir: Eskimeyenler toplulugu (Sevinc Anac, Talip Gözdereliler, Mahire Güler-Selek, Kiraz Akyar Hörold, Meltem Kazancioglu, Gülay Kösker, Güllü Sert, Berrin Ulutürk, Songül Uzunpinar, Gönül Vapurcu, Emine Yazici, Emine Zwanzig) in Begleitung von Askin Aras (Piano) und unter der Leitung von Askin Büyükuzun, Klinik der kaputten Dinge, KiezKochen (Alessia del Vigo, Miriam D., Mo Mara Hundt, Jacqueline Koch, Renate Kutscher, Kenan Oymak, Reinhild Religion und Katarina Stricevic) / Sound Design: Manuela Schininà / Video Design: Miles Chalcraft, Noam Gorbat / Costume Design: Emma Cattell, Sarah Thom / Set Design and Technical Management: Amina Nouns / Lighting Design: Max Wegner / Dramaturgy and Production: Christina Runge / Artistic Collaboration: Nora Vollmond / Videoclip Mehringplatz: Marlene Blumert / Intern Direction: Felix Zilles-Perels / Intern Costumes: Bita Asadi / Intern Video: Eliana Malena Bussas. / Company Management: Marta Hewelt / Funding & Financial Planning: Caroline Gentz, Eva Hartmann (bis Juli 2023) / Touring & Public Relations: Talea Schuré / Financial Planning & Production: Grischa Schwiegk
Gob Squad & Nachbar*innen vom Mehringplatz
Handle with Care – Eine praktische Anleitung
Part of “Who Owns the World”
- Performance
Arabic /
German /
English /
Farsi /
With German translation /
With English translation /
Turkish /
approx. 110 mins.
“Stories bring us together, untold stories keep us apart.” – Elif Shafak: “How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division”
When you’re sad, lonely or completely overwhelmed, then Grandma, Dad, your best friend or your neighbour steps in to make you a hearty soup. Together, you savour its warmth as you start to put the world to rights... If only! Most of us live far away from this fictional grandma or family, don’t even know the name of the supposedly friendly neighbour, and the best friend has their own shit to deal with.
In a world which puts capital over care, Gob Squad, accompanied by HAU to connect, have tried to get to know the neighbourhood. Time and again they have been guests at Mehringplatz and were warmly welcomed. Now it’s time to return the hospitality. Together with the neighbours, Gob Squad take over HAU1 to cook, talk, eat and sing together – and to ask under which circumstances we can come together.
Instead of fleeting encounters, Gob Squad is focusing on developing longer-term relationships and sharing authorship with our guest collaborators. The project focuses on questions of participation, empathy and responsibility: who owns what and why? Who listens to whom and who is not heard? Who cares about what, and who cares about whom? What form does that care take? And why does this work so often take place in secret? We open the doors of the theatre and look for ways to transcend barriers of language, class, age, culture and other demographics: What can we do here together? “Handle with Care” tries to think of cultural participation, entertainment and experimental theatre together and create a situation that connects us instead of dividing us. Ideally, a community grows that expands over the course of the evening to such an extent that guests and hosts can no longer be distinguished from one another. Everyone helps out.
Cast
Dates
Past
Credits
Production: Gob Squad. Coproduction: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Schauspiel Leipzig, HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden. Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Gob Squad would like to thank all partners from Mehringplatz: Abdulkader Asli & choir, Begegnungsstätte Mehring-Kiez, Café MadaMe, Mizza Caric, F1 Stadtteilzentrum, Richard Herbst, Kiezkrähen, Kreuzberger Musikalische Aktion e.V., Merle Brüser (Gewobag), Outreach Berlin, the Stadtteilmütter from Mehringplatz, TubeZ, Urbane Praxis e.V., Quartiersmanagement Mehringplatz, Beate Zeiss, Emine Zwanzig, and Rhiannon White from the British artists' collective Common Wealth for their ongoing advice and professional support in all matters relating to the development of “Handle with Care”, Stella Konstantinou and the team from HAU to connect, HAU’s outreach programme, whose practice Gob Squad are building on.
Location
HAU1
Stresemannstr. 29, 10963 BerlinThere are two marked parking spots in front of the building. Access to the Parkett by means of a separate entrance with lift when necessary. Barrier-free restroom facilities are available. Tickets for wheelchair users and accompanying persons can be booked via the ticketing system. If you need any help, please contact our Ticketing & Service team at +49 (0)30 259004-27 or send us an email at
tickets@hebbel-am-ufer.de.
