1
Ben Smalls is a juggler, a dancer and a modern clown – and an ador-
er of Mozart. His passion for Mozart’s music is infectious! His artistic
hommage to the hero of classical music takes his audience on an en-
tertaining journey through the most beautiful classical pieces, putting
a wonderful new spin on them with subtle choreographies, hilarious
slapstick and dancing objects: Balls, clubs and twirling music stands
will fascinate the audience, make them laugh, evoke surprise and
make them dream.
2
An entire orchestra... emerging from a single performer’s throat.
This extraordinary music theatre show combines vocal artistics with
subtle humour. Deliberately accentuating the various nuances in be-
tween, this exceptional artist carries off his audience into the glorious
realm of the human voice.
Anyone who could only catch a short glimpse of Bernard Massuir or
hear some faint sound from a distance due to the great popularity
of his performances three years ago should not miss the opportunity
to see his new show.
3
Fitted with gorgeous costumes and brightly polished, shiny instruments,
the brass band comes marching into town, the troop being led by their
proud drum major’s steadfast pace. Just silence and their rhythmic
marching are what can be heard from the soundless brass players. Will
they ever start playing? Let yourself be surprised... No matter what,
you will witness a special kind of concert.
4
Starving? Go check out the chips stand... or rather, the shooting stand?
Truly western-style, the cowboys carry on in the good old-fashioned way
when it comes to stomach rumbles.
Now it’s time to tackle the cooking utensils, charge the potato gun and
aim at the bull’s eye. If you shoot the potato through a grid right into the
chip pan, you’ll get your own chips as a reward. Enjoy your meal!
5
As if by magic, petty grains of sand form into letters of the alphabet.
Trickling onto the asphalt, they attain poetic beauty. Screened from ex-
ternal influence only for the moment of their creation, these transient
characters are exposed to the elements, the effects of time and foot
traffic which account for their progressive disintegration. While new
ones
are being created, the old ones disappear – sometimes fast, sometimes
slowly, just like the sand in our hands slipping through our fingers.
6
With Urban Safari you will go on a safari tour in the depths of urban
jungle and watch its creatures in their natural habitat: Attended by
two rangers you can explore all kinds of species at a close range. The
rangers’ specially designed vehicle allows the expeditors to deeply ad-
vance into their territory and even approach exotic species. With a bit
of luck and in accordance with safety precautions you may even touch
one or two creatures...
7
From a distance we see a couple in a picturesque rowboat, obviously
looking for a good mooring spot suitable for their romantic picnic. Their
champagne bucket is glistening invitingly in the splendid summer sun.
Yet an underlying tension can already be sensed. The little rowboat
turns into the setting of an unstoppable fight with a dramatic ending.
„Death on the Boat“ is a short humoristic citation including dance, sus-
pense and stage blood on a swaying rowboat.
8
A car with a trailer is rolling up. A loud bang. Smoke is emerging. Two
salvagers are getting off and starting to repair the vehicle. But who is
this, rushing to their aid? It’s the Corrosins – some odd creatures with
large heads and strange manners.
What started out as a car repair turns out to be grotesque theatre in-
cluding masks, effects and all there is to be found along the streets:
car parts becoming bizarre sculptures, scrap turning into roaring music-
al instruments, autocycles mutating into feral warhorses, angle grinders
into dangerous missiles. Thus, turmoil takes its course…
9
Driven by one wheel drive, some carriages and their occupants move
from place to place. They provide the setting for a special event – the
staging of society’s V.ery I.mportant P.igs. Scene by scene, the play is
evolving according to the change-over of wagon in motion and stage
stops.
The pack of V.I.P.igs is a masquerade on wheels, a blend of different
types of street parades and scenic play on the spot.
10
Living together requires that you agree on a common set of rules, find
your balance and yet challenge one another and explore one another’s
personal boundaries. These two young artists are facing this challenge:
Where shall this potted plant be situated? Where do we place this ward-
robe? Will there be room for all the dresses inside of it?… They playfully
and physically explore the space of their new home and won’t rest until
everything is in its right place – a surprising and impressing acrobatic
show.
11
A theatrical revolution which may not change the world but will change
your view of the present moment. A head tilt-chin lift stare of amaze-
ment would not be an unusual way of watching this show. Flying robots
will capture the scene and surprise the audience with acrobatic inter-
ludes and Hollywood-style stunts.
With this show, a time-travelling barker may promote the various modes
of use of his futuristic model aircrafts.
12
Neljä Ässää perform acoustic instrumental street music with uncompro-
mising energy, sounding as if an imaginary fast forward button were
constantly pressed... Their name, ‚Neljä Ässää’, means ‚Four Aces’.
And that’s just what they are! By no means miss this infectious enter-
tainment show. How long they will continue to play on the streets is
anybody’s guess. In consequence of their successes in the greatest
concert halls of their home country they are now conquering the world
of television.
13
Beyond the sewage pipes, a wicked pack of rats seize the streets of the
world. Yet these brash rodents do not seem to be shy with humans at all.
They cannot conceal their bad breeding. They compensate their impud-
ence by their music though, sometimes squeaky, sometimes hot. Some
beastly good mask theatre with music.
14
Invited by a traditional cosy yurt we enter an enchanting play of buffoon-
ery, artistics and sounds, of light and shadow and darkness, of chaos,
imagination and memories. The ageing ‘storyteller’ shares this nostalgia
with the audience in a both funny and touching way. With a handful of
everyday items, some flour and some water he artfully and charmingly
recalls scenes from his life. Los Galindos becharm the world creating an
atmosphere beyond description which simply must be felt firsthand. Be
sure to get tickets well enough in advance!
15
Having both feet planted firmly on the ground and yet having your head
in the clouds for a moment of dream? This is just what you experience in
‘Dreamers’, an open air audio production which leads you on an offbeat
journey with your head in the clouds, into an illusion of time and space.
“Let us halt for a moment and give ourselves to this moment. Let go of
your plans and your commitments. Be in the here and now. Nothing else
matters…“ Your vision blurred and directed by orders from your headset,
you explore the boundaries of your personal capabilities. „Find someone
who is looking at you and wave at them – COME ON GO FOR IT!“
16
Faintly squeaking and crackling, a ramshackle signpost beckons you to
enter this uncommon garden. „Le Jardin des Yeux“ – ‚The Garden of Eyes’
carries you back to the time of pedlars and quacks. In the midst of monk
vultures and bird cages, two morbid and mannerless sisters invite you to
explore their weird patio. Is this an inventor’s lab? A cabinet of curiosities?
Driven by curiosity, you want to explore these heavily alienated pieces of
furniture that turn out to be peculiar playthings – inventions, devices and
odd perspectives of things.
17
May we introduce... Vernon Ponder, an elderly everyman and the humb-
le hero of our story. Lost in a sea of uncertainty, he has set his mind on
making sense of 21st century goods and devices. Why is cheese cheesy?
Did I leave the stove on? What’s the use of satellite navigation when you
might as well use a good road atlas?
Vernon Ponder is a scientific marvel – a telepathic transmitter. His every
thought, no matter how trite, profound or puzzling, is heard by every-
body around him. The thinker plumbs the depths of our thoughts: What
are we thinking, and what do we think to know?
18
An individual sets foot on a stage – constructing a poetic universe of dra-
matics. Presenting a mixture of club-juggling and acrobatics, he explores
the fragile boundaries of his platform. In the center of his performance
is a Chinese mast around which both experiment and exhibition unfold, in-
volving all potential risks and slips, folly and fun... He looks like an animal
in a cage. But who’s looking on?
19
Blending dance theatre with acrobatic performance, this duo of trapeze
acrobats interpret both stereotypes and simple truths about maleness
and femaleness. Are these outdated role models or still prevalent issues,
while partnership and family life have changed? The Bremen audience
having already been enthusiastic about the Fullstop Acrobatic Theatre
in recent years, the duo were awarded this year’s LA STRADA Artist in
Residence grant.
20
This is the tale of a giant – though a tale of the little people, as if view-
ed through a magnifying glass. It is not a fairy tale opening with, „Once
upon a time...“, there’s just stories and poetry, an image and movement.
Cie l’ Homme debout attends to the fine line between imagination and
reality and stages both imposing and dreamy images...
The production was developed for LA STRADA in cooperation with the
bremer shakespeare company and sets out from St. Peter’s Cathedral,
from where „Venus“, a giant puppet made from willow rods, approaches
the „Roland“, Bremen’s ‚statue of liberty’. Encouraging bravery, quest
and exploration of options: a quest without an illusion.
21
With „The House of the Swing Gypsy Burlesque“, DJ Badre will show that
circus and dance go together. Badre takes the sounds of the 20s and 30s,
gives them a good shake, turns the whole thing upside down, mixes driving
beats into it and shifts this mixture to the 21st century. The outcome is
energetic club music, Electro-Gypsy-Circus at its best. Dancing permitted...
both on the marketplace and in the Lila Eule.
22
Prior to the event, LA STRADA’s junior ensemble has developed two new
productions in 2014:
Children – „N.N.“
Creativity and joy of playing are the backbone of this show including art-
istics, dance and buffoonery developed by these broadly talented young
performers.
Youth – „Seekers“
These 12 young artists go their own way! Be it by walking, acrobatically,
on their unicycles or dancing – and they don’t mind taking detours to get
where they want.
23
A tree – a place of childhood memories, grown on finds from the past:
here a lost toy, there a stick horse, and the traces of past footprints in
between. If you take a moment’s rest and a seat on the logs around the
tree and strain your ears, you can hear the stories and musical poetry
of the rustling leaves... „Boom tevreden“ creates a place to dwell and
draw one’s inspiration from. Different recordings by artists who opened
themselves to this quiet experience coalesce to a concomitant sound
installation.
24
The freedom of Bremen is at stake – it is hardly bestowed a thought up-
on and therefore unprotected. The ‚Council of Six’ contrives a scheme
to
wake the spirit of Bremen’s freedom. Yet the Roland, who stands for it
symbolically, withholds his support. When an giant stranger enters the
stage, there’s hope in sight. Will he succeed in reviving Bremen’s free-
dom? An encounter of two king-size mystical figures – a co-production
with Cie
l’Homme debout, cooperatively put on stage in celebration of
both the festival’s 20th anniversary and the 30th season of the bremer
shakespeare company.
25
Watch posh pig ladies, boastful boars and pert porklings in their Sunday
best: It’s party time for the masquerade of Blaumeier’s illustrious pack
of pigs who dance to the music. The village fête is all about winning the
favour of the mayor’s trunk-nosed son who is of marriageable age – and
sitting pretty on his spruced-up wagon. No wonder all of the rosy-cheek-
ed ladies are jostling for this covetable candidate! A great mask play
about love, fugacity, and fresh start.
©2014 KK-7 für Programmheft LA STRADA, Bremen]