Parcel from Abroad

Totem Centre Theatre Lab (Ukraine), Futur 3 (Germany), M. Dzhangaziev Kyrgyz Puppentheater (Kyrgyzstan)

A participatory performance

By UNITED SOLITUDES UNLTD.

In co-operation with Futur3 (Köln/D), Totem Theater Lab (Kherson/UA) and Youth Theater Studio (Bishkek/KYR)

Do you know what people in southern Ukrainian Kherson think about western capitalism? Do you have a pen pal in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, who will tell you how people feed their families despite an economic crisis? Have you heard, that many people in Germany prefer to earn less money but have more free time? Are you curious whether these people, who live in different countries, have similar dreams of the future? Do these people, besides all differences, have similar ideas of happiness?

In the participatory performance PARCEL FROM ABROAD / SENDER UNKNOWN, the audience can expect a box filled with packages. The items and letters which the audience opens have been written by people from Cologne, Kherson and Bishkek. They tell personal stories of the search for happiness and dreams of the future. And they show what all of this has to do with the economy, work and money. But the packages not only reveal answers, but also many questions and requests for joint actions. In this way, PARCEL FROM ABROAD / SENDER UNKNOWN becomes a spontaneous questioning of the viewers. Where do they see themselves in the thoughts of the unknown?

This theatrical encounter between nations wants to find out what is really moving people in their lives, and to find answers beyond media narrations.

The international performing artists behind this project formed the collective UNITED SOLITUDES UNLTD. to try and put an end to singular approaches which end at state boarders and instead find a joint vision of happiness, if there is any.

Artistic & Administrative Direction: Andre Erlen (Futur3, Germany), Mykola Homanyuk (Totem Lab, Ukraine), Shamil Dyikanbayev (YTS, Kyrgyzstan) | Production Management: Theresa Heussen (Futur3, Germany), Zhamilia Keldibaeva (YTS, Kyrgyzstan) | Sociological Consulting: Mykola Homanyuk (Kherson State University) | Videos, photos and comics: Maksym Afanasyev (Totem Lab, Ukraine) | Funded & Supported by: Goethe-Institute (International Coproduction Fund), Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia