Repertoire

“Alles steht Kopf” – Eine Gefühlsreise

Die Butterblumen des Guten

What would happen if I could feed my friends to a meat-eating plant? And once they have been fed to it, would the plant then eat me, or would I eat it? What actually separates us from plants? How alienated are we from them in a time where we need them more than ever?Over the course of a séance in the style of the 19th century, the performers reveal their innermost feelings and use dance and song to reach the boundaries of the genre, the unexpected knowledge in which the big show is definitely hidden - somewhere between surrealism, dada and musical.

Extremities

This dance performance illustrates the development of the human body from a single cell through to its ultimate form and focuses on the body in its physicality, complete with all of its strengths and weaknesses. No body is perfect. There is no absolute symmetry, no objective standard. All the same, human beings strive for precisely this; society wants perfection and optimization instead of accepting differences. Extremities is declaration of war using the tools of dance against conformity and superficial ideals that is as visually stunning as it is intimate.

face to face – Gegensätze

Five times two performers, each group performing for 15 minutes – it all adds up to a very colourful evening. Crisply brief and full of surprises. This is how the Thikwa series face to face works. The theme for this first round of encounters is “contrasts”. An open-air theatre series in the courtyard of the Bockbrauerei located at Fidicinstraße 3. Please note the information on ticket sales and safety regulations.

Hindernisse auf der Fahrbahn

For many years, the performer Ruth Geiersberger has carried a book around with her and quoted from it during performances: the collected texts of Ernst Herbeck, Im Herbst da reiht der Feenwind. Now she has dedicated an evening to him. Herbeck (1920-1991) spent half of his life in the Gugging Lower Austrian State Mental Hospital. He began writing poetry on the advice of his doctor, Leo Navratil. Together with Torsten Holzapfel, Tim Petersen and Klaus Janek on the double bass, Ruth Geiersberger reads and sings Herbeck poems and folk songs. What results is a musical-poetic tapestry consisting of spoken word, performance, theater, interaction and humor. An evening at the edge of language that gently reveals the tears in the backdrop of the world.

Merkel

In a performance somewhere between a realpolitik press conference and a private exercise of power, they encounter the first female German Chancellor as a representative of her ideals, desires and decisions. None of the performers voted for Angela Merkel.

Move out loud

MOVE OUT LOUD traces the movements set in motion by speeches and focusses on connections between bodies and tongues. Seven dancers sound out hierarchies of speech. A walk-in landscape of windows invites the audience to piece together movements from different angles over and over again: MOVE OUT LOUD empowers hand in foot, shoulder to belly and head over arm.

Oz, Oz, Oz! (W)Rap the Wizard!

Somewhere over the rainbow, a doubled Dorothy is flying over the Land of Oz. On the way to the Emerald City, not Chemnitz, where things will hopefully take off, she meets strong characters: the brainless scarecrow is actually really happy about the fact that you can get in everywhere for free with a “hunting license”. And the cowardly lion shakily raps a hymn to fear. Only the lady with the red pumps constantly tries to convince the group of travelers of her inadequacy. Thikwa has created a musical! And it’s anything but conventional. Rap meets electronic jazz, the performers sing and dance, but at the same time, the genre is put right through the meat grinder. A performative road movie about individuality and the hurdles of self-improvement.

Protokoll Pankow

Peter Pankow has worked as a writer, actor and visual artist for over 25 years - he is one of the most successful Thikwa performers and a painter who has received multiple awards. Here, this exceptional artist meets Dominik Bender, a very different multi-talent with a knack for wordplay, poetry and photography. The two of them have worked together on multiple productions for many years. Based in part upon very intimate interviews, a text has been created in which these two very different performers examine their artistic self-images and their value in society. A testament to thinking outside of the box - funny, enlightening and highly philosophical.

Schweigen Impossible

How is it possible to reach an understanding when one person blusters and swaggers, the other person can hardly intervene in a comprehensible manner, a third person claims to understand everything, a fourth person rushes in to help using sign language and a fifth person translates everything into dance? A hopeless mishmash of languages like the Tower of Babel? A hilariously funny look at trying out all the options of (mis)understanding? Or a conciliatory coming together of different techniques of reaching an understanding? Factual, post-factual or as fake news – Thikwa sets off into perceived realities. An encounter of translators, interpreters and know-it-alls with people who speak using body language and sounds.

So why? – Suchen nach Siegfried

How does it work with sword and blood, with heroism and murder, with love and betrayal when you are young, blonde and courageous, but also really stupid? Siegfried - a fearless superzero, so-to-speak. But a very sweet one. What is a hero? More than a stunt? Or is it all just Tarzan? The beautiful Siggi is someone that others control through her greed. Profit-oriented, a perfect capitalist. And let’s swap out genteel with “friendly enemy”. We are searching for Siegfried. We are remastering Wagner music with new texts and samples. We are asking whether murder has to be part of the principle of masculinity. And what is it like if you first notice far to late, or not at all, that you’re being used? If you end up being stuck in a black hole that you can never get out of? A piece from a time where you are black-and-white.

Subway to heaven

A childhood in the broom closet… but I don’t feel any compassion for that now! Said Martin Holzapfel to Torsten Clausen. Or something like that. Is the greatest utopia a world connected by subways? Where they maybe only play Berlin songs? Or are we talking about the profession of the actor while rolling our eyes? And what is actually the difference between plastic and plastic, that is, art and artifice?

theater30thikwa
OCCUPY FUTURE

Thikwa is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary! It could be the right moment to reflect upon the long path traveled to get to where diverse theater is today. But we’re not going to that. We’re going to take on the future! Open air and as a theatrical journey through a green courtyard - an approach that can certainly be seen as programmatic. We are going to take on positions and move the figures on the societal chessboard! Reflectively, questioningly, humorously and as a way to think playfully around the corner. The loud megaphones will suddenly become quiet and poetic. What do I wish for the future beyond the slogans but which is still a strong statement? Perhaps something that can be sung together? And the phoenix dances with a new shine along with it. The more we live, the more we learn, the more we are able to clarify, the less we know. Or, to put it completely differently: how do you deal with the future when you can perform an inclusive guest performance on Mars? Can we visit other planets in search of advice or do we end up contaminating them with the expansive nature of the human spirit?

Theaterwerkstatt zu Move out loud

Vertigo

It really isn’t easy being in a body that say “yes”, but also “maybe” at the same time. Vertigo means dizziness - the uncertain ground you end up stumbling all over when you try to relate to others. In Vertigo, people who are purported to be autistic describe themselves and their options for expression. An examination of inner spaces and their periphery with a rap in between, with dance and beat boxing or a manga superhero. The myth of autism: while YOU stare at what is wrong with us, we look to see what is different about THEM. A seriously relaxed breakbeat oratorio of existence.

Vom Umtausch ausgeschlossen

A package is delivered. The contents: body parts that definitely go together, but that don’t function as a whole. A figure of human size stands at the center of the performance. If it is guided, it achieves a personality. If it is studied, an alienation occurs that leads to new abilities. As an object, it provides a metaphorical project surface that invites the viewer to impartial investigation. This can be disturbing, it can lead to unusual situations that cross borders, but also bring new, changeable options into the game. Can we use defects as inspiration for unconventional solutions? Can we bypass defects through cooperations and develop unusual living and coping strategies? A performative encounter of objects and performers with unspoken agreements, cascades of words, the shifting of boundaries and unique rescue maneuvers, accompanied by living jazz singing.

Zugabe

Applause is the daily bread of the artist who lives on fame and the love of the audience. But what happens when this love is bought? When the audience prostitutes itself? Doesn’t that make the work of the performers (or johns) meaningless? In the end, is it a win-win situation or the end of the free expression of opinion? As long as the barter makes sense for both sides, there is no loser. More is more.The performance collective Monster Truck sets out together with the Thikwa performer Addas Ahmad to examine applause, the manipulation of opinions and the infamous 15 minutes of fame. Again and again and again.

Zwillinge

When twins meet at the airport and one of them suddenly does not want to fly, things get exciting.Two very independent people meet on the parkour of their life between flights missed again and again, objects created from dreams and speculation about “how autism feels”.