Rehearsing Mwange/Becker

Sepiso Mwange (Namibia), Mathias Becker (Germany), National Theater of Namibia (Namibia), Schaubude Berlin (Germany)

How has theatre, storytelling, or any kind of live performance affected your personal experience? How do performance spaces and practices reflect the way we learn, share and value knowledge? Can theatre be a rehearsal for life?
 
Sepiso Mwange and Mathias Becker are rehearsing encounters with each other, themselves and the audience, with their histories, their differences and their common point: Theatre.

What can a Namibian-German collaboration look like, against the backdrop of our violent history? How can we create a future by acknowledging our past? Mwange/Becker investigate theatre as a space of knowledge. They reflect on their own experiences and the formation of knowledge in the theatre space, seeking to learn more about performative practices. The audience is invited to join this performative experience – a devised work combining performance, mixed media, puppetry and documentary theatre.
 
The project includes a theatre workshop with a focus on object animation and storytelling for children in collaboration with KAYEC (Katutura Youth Enterprise Center. Mwange/Becker attempt to rethink theatre practices and institutions, their colonial power structures and their effects on personal life, investigating the potential of theatre as a space for utopian communities.
 

 
Direction & Performance: Sepiso Mwange, Mathias Becker | Dramaturgy: Yasmine Salimi | Dramaturgical Support: Nelago Shilongoh | Sound: Karl Ehlers (aka LOFT) | Video: Martin Amushendje | Stage Management: Lavinia Kapewasha

A production by Mwange/Becker in co-production with the National Theater of Namibia (NTN), supported by the International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe-Institut, the Kulturamt Pankow and the Schaubude Berlin.