By and with: Sebastian Bark, Johanna Freiburg, Fanni Halmburger, Lisa Lucassen, Mieke Matzke, Ilia Papatheodorou, Berit Stumpf / Music: Santiago Blaum / Costumes assistance: Lili Hillerich and Mads Dinesen / Precision mechanics camera control: ThiloGödel /Embedded Software Ingenieur / Embedded Software Ingenieur / Camera Control: Grzegorz Zajac / Internship: Carolin Bodensteiner and Rodrigo Zorzanelli Cavalcanti / English simultaneous translation: PANTHEA / / Special thanks to: Veronica Dyas (Dublin), Eva von Redecker (Berlin), Takako Shibata (Tokyo) / Video: Benjamin Krieg / Bühne: Sandra Fox / Kostüme: Lea Søvsø / Künstlerische und dramaturgische Mitarbeit: Laia Ribera Cañénguez / Sounddesign: Manuel Horstmann / Licht: Michael Lentner, Andreas Kröher / Technische Leitung: Sven Nichterlein / Assistenz Video: Daniela Garcia del Pomar, Fine Freiberg / Produktionsleitung: Valeria Germain / PR, Kommunikation: ehrliche arbeit – freies Kulturbüro / Freie Mitarbeit Kommunikation: Tina Ebert / Finanzadministration: Aminata Oelßner / Company-Management: Elke Weber
She She Pop
Hexploitation
- Theatre
German /
approx. 75 mins.
In 1962 the film “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” was released into the cinemas. The psycho-horror thriller about two ageing female movie stars was a surprising hit and kicked off a whole new film genre known as the ‘psycho biddy’ or ‘hagsploitation’ movie. The film diva steps in front of the mirror in a studied pose, sees her aged face - a distorted version of how she sees herself – and lets out into a blood-curdling scream. This has become an iconic image.
This year, the members of She She Pop will all be about 50. And so, they explore society’s fear of the ‘hag’ - the old woman and witch – in their new production Hexploitation. Naturally, they will be using their ageing bodies for this purpose: to fight against the invisibility and loss of status that women suffer in society when they are no longer of childbearing age. To this day, the term ‘witch’ is used to belittle or reduce women. The witch - an anarchic, heretical woman - stands for sexuality beyond reproduction and subversive behaviour towards power structures and authorities.
In “Hexploitation”, She She Pop lock themselves and the audience in a mise en scène reminiscent of a low-lit, kitschy film set from which there is no escape. A live camera serves as a magnifying glass and intimate examining tool. With its help, the She She Pop team, in the guise of ageing psycho biddies, go in search of taboos and explore their own disturbing imperfections and obsessions. They also discover the camera as a magic box through which they can repeatedly transcend their bodies to create liberating self-portraits, coupled with melodramatic disgust and comical lust, reminiscent of Norma Desmond’s memorable line: ‘Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up!’ (Sunset Boulevard, 1950).
Cast
Dates
Past
Credits
Production: She She Pop. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Kampnagel Hamburg, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, FFT Düsseldorf, Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig, HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, Kaserne Basel, Festival delle Colline Torinesi/TPE – Teatro Piemonte Europa. Funded by: German Federal Cultural Foundation and by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
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.
