Amid the fog of fallen pipes and broken monuments, enigmatic figures: the King, the Narrator, the Fairy of the Radical Sort, the Tourists, the Horse, the Architect. Together they detail a space of opacity, erotics and fragile connections. Drawing from Jack Halberstam’s theory of ‘unworlding’ the work seeks to address the aesthetics of collapse and its potential to loosen the body from systems of gender and progress. This is not a site to disregard but an abundance of situations to be reckoned with.

The dramaturgy of the performance is driven by an uncanny numerological significance of the number 5: interweaving the connection between the 5 stages of grief, the 5 stages of decomposition and finally the 5 acts of a classical play.

‘Collapse in 5 Acts: there is porn of it’, confronts architectural and structural ruination against a backdrop of the capitalist drive for renewal. It actively invites the public to consider the wreckage of all that we have built and inherited as available remnants for a romance with the future, archive of the past and a sobering recognition for where we are now.

The premiere will take place on 27 February, followed by a snack and drink reception.

Information on accessibility and language

• Stepless access

• Duration: Approx. 75 minutes

• Age: 18+ years

• Language: In English spoken language

• Surtitles: Surtitles in standard written German and English and descriptive surtitles in standard written German

• Content Notes: Video projections of animated explicit pornography; scenic depiction of sexual acts including references to BDSM practices; performer eats fake glass; fully undressed performer

• Sound: Sound-intense work including the overlapping of several sounds/noises and text as well as loud music with palpable bass vibrations, sometimes creating an unsettling atmosphere; sudden noises from stage objects; use of a trumpet

• Light: Light-intense work including lighting stages from complete darkness to full brightness, use of flashlights and neon tubes, pulsating lights in various colours as well as flickering lights (including strobe-like effects in one scene)

• Video: Large-scale moving video projections on all three walls and the floor, sometimes including flashing or flickering images

• Smell: Over the course of the performance, a large amount of fog is used in the space. Additionally, there is an open fire on stage in the first part of the performance. 

• Other sensory triggers: Use of fake blood and fake teeth

• Audience and interaction: Short, voluntary interactions with audience members including the distribution of food. Parts of the performance happen very close to the first row of the audience. A plastic curtain will briefly touch audience members in the first row.

• Further information on accessibility will be provided continuously until the premiere.