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«In Case of Emergency»
Extraleben

Performance

If the Sihldamm in Einsiedeln bursts, the Gessnerallee has to be evacuated. The simulated emergency questions the premises of disaster control.

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  • Thu 08/0520:00–21:30

    Halle Ost

  • Sat 10/0520:00–21:30

    Halle Ost

  • Mon 12/0520:00–21:30

    Halle Ost

  • Tue 13/0520:00–21:30

    Halle Ost

  • Audio description

Gessnerallee is located in the flood plain of the Sihl. Should the Sihldamm dam near Einsiedeln break, an eight metre high flood wave is expected in Zurich. The theatre would have to be evacuated. Based on this scenario and the precautions that a theatre takes to avoid the worst-case scenario, «In Case of Emergency», the new production by Ben Burger and Mona De Weerdt, addresses the increasing erosion of our social sense of security and questions the premises of disaster prevention.

«We are safe as long as we are safe.»

In «In Case of Emergency», the theatre apparatus performs itself. The large Halle of Gessnerallee becomes a freely accessible audiovisual installation. The evening is not led by performers, but by all the people - the technicians and evening services (Bojan Milosevic, Lise Couchet, Benjamin Knörle, Piotr Rybkowski, Miriam Walther, Kathrin Veser, Shelagh Armin, Manuel Gerst) - who usually work behind the scenes to ensure that the theatre runs safely and smoothly.

They show the way, carry out open conversions and material checks, play music and simulate the incident and disaster in the theatre in accordance with the prevailing safety regulations.

«Has the reactor been damaged or has democracy imploded?»

«In Case of Emergency» is an evening of theatre brimming with superstition, unfun facts, deliberate security leaks and fantastic pessimism. The play celebrates the poetry of avoidance by demonstrating all the measures needed to prevent an emergency.

Information on accessibility and language

The performance takes place in German spoken language and the premises are accessible without steps.

There is an integrated audio description.

The performance is recommended for people aged 16 and over.

Sensory stimuli

  • Strobe effects

  • Fog

  • Low light in places, dark lighting conditions

  • Loud music, bass

  • A bang effect

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Picture from the rehearsal process Copyright: Benjamin Burger

Plain Language

  • The play is about disasters.

    A disaster is a bad event.

    The play poses questions:

    • What do we have to do in a disaster?

    • What do we do if there is a fire?

    • What do we do if the river rises too high?

    • How can we be safe in the theater?

    There are no actors in the play.

    There are technicians from the theater on stage.

    They set things up.

    They explain what everyone has to do in an emergency.

    The audience can walk around the room.

    Everyone gets headphones.

    There is a radio play and music.

About the artists

  • Benjamin Burger is a performer, author and director based in Zurich. He works interdisciplinarily at the genre boundaries of theater, dance, game, performance and film. In his projects, he examines the pathologies of today's hypercapitalism. He also researches, lectures and mentors at the Zurich University of the Arts and coordinates the minor program “Global Pop Cultures & Event Practices” together with art historian Jörg Scheller.

    In the multi-year artistic project “States of Exhaustion” (2021-2023) and the follow-up project “Eroding Grounds” (since 2024), together with Mona De Weerdt, he deals with exhaustion in general as a symptom of our meritocracy and specifically as a consequence of classism. They look at exhaustion(s) as individual, political-social and ecological conditions, try to work out the connections between them and explore artistic narrative forms and physicalities of exhaustion and regeneration. The dance performance Slowburn (2022), the outdoor piece CRUSH (2023), the auto-fictional solo performances Solastalgia - A Ghost Story (2023) and Happily Ever After (2024) and currently the performative installation In Case of Emergency (2025) were created in this context.

    Mona De Weerdt is a dramaturge and theater and dance scholar. She works as artistic director at TanzPlan Ost and as a freelance dramaturge with various artists and groups. Her artistic topics and research focus on social origin/classism, ecology, exhaustion, identity and neurodiversity. In 2020-2024, together with filmmaker Michelle Ettlin, she is realizing the project Choreographers at Work! - a documentary film series about creation processes in contemporary dance. 2024/25 she is part of the Migros Double Mentoring Program and, mentored by Adina Secretan, realizes the (research) project doing dramaturgy on dramaturgical practices in contemporary dance. Since 2021 she has been working closely with Benjamin Burger on conceptual and dramaturgical issues.

Credits

  • Concept / Text / Direction:
    Benjamin Burger
    Conceptual co-operation:
    Thomas Giger, Mona De Weerdt, Andreas Storm
    Processes:
    Bojan Milosevic, Lise Couchet, Benjamin Knörle, Piotr Rybkowski, Miriam Walther, Kathrin Veser, Shelagh Armit, Manuel Gerst
    Technical management / stage / lighting:
    Thomas Giger
    Dramaturgy / Text:
    Mona De Weerdt, Andreas Storm
    Sounddesign:
    Ernesto Coba Antequera
    Consultation Integrated audio description:
    Karin Huber
    Production management:
    Daniela Guse
    Artistic direction Extraleben:
    Benjamin Burger, Mona De Weerdt
    Guitar:
    Piotr Rybkowski
    Speakers:
    Silke Geertz, Andreas Storm
    Audio description consultation:
    Karin Huber, Nicole Sourt Sánchez
    Voice Over Recording:
    Santiago Valdés Yáñez
    Special thanks to:
    Nicole Sourt Sánchez, Piotr Rybkowski, Andreas Greiner
    Production:
    Extraleben
    Co-production:
    Gessnerallee
    *The project was developed in close co-operation with the Gessnerallee technical team. Special thanks to: Nicole Sourt Sánchez and Piotr Rybkowski

Supported by

  • Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, GGKZ - Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft Kanton Zürich, Elisabeth Weber Stiftung, Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung – SIS, Walter Haefner Stiftung 

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