What happens 48 hours before the guests arrive?

Dear Gessnerallee visitors, dear culture enthusiasts, dear artists

In a little over 48 hours we will open our doors to you. Until then, the house is running at full speed. The hosts are getting ready. Things are happening everywhere and everyone is heading towards that magical moment: the audience crosses the threshold and the show can begin.  

As one team colleague aptly put it today: ‘Now is the moment when the meetings are too short and the to-do lists are too long.’ 

A little insight:

While the technical team (André Donzé, Bojan Milosevic, Lise Couchet, Kaspar Schärer, Stephen Thomas, Miro Renggli, Simon Riggli, Corinne Werffeli, Daria Werner, Andreas Deblander and others) set up the video, lighting and stage in the Halle for the technically sophisticated show ‘The Making of Pinocchio’, Petra Kenneth is setting up shop in the Stall6 where she will print and embroider your used shirts, blouses, bags, hats and T-shirts with glittering and rainbow-coloured Gessnerallee lettering. Tomorrow, Mélissa Guex and her team will begin adapting ‘Down (full album)’ for the North Wing - and the technical team will again be right in the middle of the technical set-up. The show is accompanied by Noa Winter (dramaturge) and Ramona Unterberg (agent for diversity) and developed as a relaxed performance. In cooperation with Paranoia City Buchhandlung Isabel Gatzke (dramaturge) will put together a selection of books that invite you to browse in a reading corner this weekend. Jonas Gillmann (production management) and Shelagh Armit (production and operations) are preparing welcome packages for arriving artists and will brief the admissions and box office staff. Chloé Serres (Head of Finance and Personnel Administration) and Dzevada Isanovic (Assistant Finance and Personnel Administration) are making sure that cash is available for Per Diems and that expenses incurred are correctly recorded. Gäri Schwarz (Head of Building Services and Maintenance) and the cleaning and maintenance team (Nailje Bedzeti, Fatima Sisbane, Kadime Ziberi) are making all our rooms shine brightly, while Markus Bösch keeps a keen eye on compliance with all safety regulations. Kian Schwabe (Box Office) is equipping the lower box office, newly built by Benjamin Knörle (Technical Stage), with a printer, racks for the printed Gessnerallee newspaper and information on ticket prices. Anja Mayer (Production Management) and Piotr Rybkowski (Technical Management) are carrying out test runs for the guided tour of Gessnerallee's architectural features on the ‘Open Day for Young and Old’. Manuel Gerst (Diversity Agent) is working with the scicchimicchi team to find a good place to distribute the audio description devices and headphones for ‘The Making of Pinocchio’. Rahel Loretan (Rental Manager) has thought up a delicious opening aperitif for the first day of the season and is doing the final shopping. Kathrin Veser and Miriam Walther, the directors, are putting the finishing touches to their opening speech. Rahel Bains (Head of Communications) makes sure that the whole city knows what's going on in our house. And Adèle Macefield (Head of Gastronomy at Stall6) has the biggest task: completely re-equipping the drinks menu and setting up all the necessary utensils for the Stall6 bar for its opening at 5 pm sharp on Friday 27 September.

Programme recommendation of the week

Come to the first weekend of the start of the season on 27 and 28 September.

All information can be found under the following links:

• Weekly letter #5 with all information on 27 and 28 September

• What you can expect on 27 September in a nutshell  

• Event information on the play ‘The Making of Pinocchio’ and the performance ‘Down (full album)’

• Information on the ‘Open day for everyone, young and old’

Outlook on the programme for the coming week

3 October, 7 pm

‘through sounds / under words / in company’ by Tim Zulauf/KMU productions and network 

22 years of theatre and art work as a three-part publication. The publication of the reader ‘durch Geräusche’ will be celebrated as part of the book launch. Reading from it: Susanne Abelein, Ariane Andereggen, Vivien Bullert, Philippe Graber, Meret Hottinger, Ursula Reiter, Andreas Storm and Tim Zulauf. More information

4 and 5 October, both at 8 pm

‘Navy Blue’ by Oona Doherty

Ten dancers plunge through galactic darkness, existential horror and shimmering hope. Together with music by Rachmaninov and Jamie xx, the result is a dazzling exploration of the form of classical ballet. More information

We love music: To kick off the season, Year-To-Date, an association of Zurich artists and musicians, presents two double evenings with artists from Sacramento, London, Paris and Zurich:

4 October, 9.30 pm

Double concert with LA Timpa & WAT TAKLAEW

5 October, 9.30 pm

Double concert with Chuquimamani-Condori & Aho Ssan

Newspaper

Transrealitäten im Theater

Two queer theater makers, activists and experts approach a classification of their socialization in East Germany and the development of gender diversity in theater. An exchange of emails. Read (Only in German)

Our recommended articles of the week are Noa Winter's piece on Aesthetics of Access - exploring artistic accessibility and Isabel Gatzke's interview with choreographer Oona Doherty, who will be a guest at the Gessnerallee next week and can also be met live as part of an artists' talk.

Furthermore

The ‘Mixed Pickles #14’ call for dance and performance short pieces from the Roxy theatre in Birsfelden is currently open. The format is aimed at up-and-coming artists. Project submissions from the fields of dance or performance with a focus on movement are welcome. More information about the programme

Thanks for reading. Come and see us.

The Gessnerallee team

PS: There are only seven seats left for 'DOWN (full album)' by Mélissa Guex. Get your free ticket now.

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