la main/die hand
Artists from Kinshasa, Melbourne, Stuttgart and Wuppertal prepare a huge spectacle in Wuppertal with young refugees and the Wuppertal brass band Belakongo. On the opening evening of the Protestant Kirchentag 2017, La Main - Die Hand on the main stage in front of the Reichstag will host an extraordinary stage event: La Main - The hand is a fable.
The audience experiences how easy it is to destroy peace in the world. On stage you will meet the complacent King and his peculiar army. He sings praises for wealth, prosperity, order and happiness and presents his people with diamond-studded smartphones and other beautiful things. But not everyone gets something. And so it comes to strife, to war, to brutal bloodshed. Until the hippopotamus appears to show us the way to a world without walls, borders and obstacles ...
In March, a gigantic hippopotamus was created in collaboration with "Snuff Puppets" as part of a large doll making workshop at the cultural center Espace Masolo in Kinshasa, which will play a central role in the spectacle at the Reichstag. Greetings from all over the world should travel around the globe with the hippopotamus from May. Its huge surface serves as a stationery for people who, despite all boundaries and walls, always want to keep their horizons open. From 19 to 21 May, it will be in Wuppertal.
The preparations of La Main - The hand are running for months in different places of the world at full speed. The basis of the unusual event is rousing brass music from all over the world. The young brass bands "Fanfare Masolo" from Kinshasa and "Belakongo" from Wuppertal have been working together since 2010: their musical friendship forms the basis of the performance.
"Snuff Puppets" is Australia's leading figure theater company. For 25 years, they have been making giant puppets experimental puppet theater, which has brought them world renown. Huge body parts from Australia have been in the container on the high seas for weeks. From Kinshasa four other dolls (some up to four meters high) are currently traveling to Germany together with the hippopotamus. In total, more than 50 contributors are involved in the major performance: Brass Band Fanfare Masolo, Kinshasa Brass Band Belakongo, Wuppertal Youth of the community at the vineyard, Berlin Snuffpuppets, Melbourne . (Text by Steffi Oberhoff)
Under the direction of Stephanie Oberhoff, Andy Freer and Tim Isfort.
Production and dramaturgy: Ali Goss.
With friendly support from: Bread of the world, Berlin VEM United, Hamburg Goethe Institute, Munich Landschaftsverband Rheinland, LVR Stadt Wuppertal, WSW Wuppertal, Satdtwerke Freundeskreis, Espace Masolo, Cultural Office of the Citty of Stuttgart as part of the concept funding 2017-2018.
appearances: Die Hand/La Main – previews
19-20 May 2017: (Wuppertal, Germany)
* 4.30pm Friday 19 May: Elberfeld: Parade from neumarkt, 5pm at Church Sq.
* 12pm Saturday 20 May: Barmen: parade from old market, 12:30pm siblings-Scholl-Platz
Die Hand/La Main – premiere
24-27 May 2017: Kirchentag (Berlin, Germany)
* 24 Mai, 20 Uhr: Hauptbühne des Evangelischen Kirchentages 2017, vorm Reichstag Berlin
* 25 Mai, ab 14:30 Uhr: auf dem Gelände der Messe Berlin
* 26 Mai, 17 Uhr: Zionskirche Berlin
* 27 Mai, von 12:30: Tempodrom Berlin
The Tunnel (aftermath)
* Wednesday 19 July: 8.30pm. FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater (Stuttgart, Germany)
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF_GutP6Sjw
