1
There’s three acrobats, one Chinese pole and a springboard. From what
looks like an acrobatic show at first sight, with each jump a visually
stunning and striking performance is emerging. As the three acrobats
advance deeper and deeper or rather, higher and higher, they enter an
absurd, buffoonish yet flamboyant world where anything seems possible –
even reaching the moon. Full of jest, poetry and acrobatic feats, the
artists develop an unprecedented, innovative show that will touch you.
2
Our streets and our cities are being deluged with more and more waste.
We buy new things rather than recycle, we throw away things that we
consider of no use to anybody anymore – but are they really?
Pirates of the future do subsist on the residuals of modern civilization.
They scour the streets in search of any precious waste material we have
unmindfully disposed of. Certain components of their outlandish vehicles
made from scrap metal reveal what they were formerly intended for,
before having been brought back to life again from the scrap heap. The
Pirates may have a broad appreciation of value, yet it is not without
reason that they call themselves ‚Pirates’. Keep your doors and windows
shut – the WASTELANDERS are coming!
3
Is it mounted police, a motorized police department or both? Whatever
they are, the KIDDY RIDE POLICE PATROL officers are always on the
scene. From their attention-getting motorbikes they keep a watching
brief on everyone and everything. The supervision of compliance with
the law and public safety is their task which must be performed by all
available means. Be it due to brisk walking, using the wrong turn signal,
or nodding incidentally – no one can avoid being fined, it’s no use
moaning.
The KIDDY RIDE POLICE PATROL officers won’t have mercy on you but
will give you lots of entertainment!
4
It’s a disaster, and what a disaster! When two French tourists get lost
in the street and, with their charming enthusiasm, involve everybody in
their precarious predicament, no one would assume that they could ever
find their way back to Paris. There are fumes, there is a bang. A trunk
lid being opened, a trunk lid being closed again. As the 2CV collapses,
everybody cheers up. Tout alors! It is pure wordplay and action. In the
very midst of maximum chaos, the two Frenchmen show sparkling
‚Savoir vivre’. „ENTE GUT – ALLES GUT“ („DEAD ’DUCK’ – BAD LUCK“)
is hilarious, spontaneous and always a nice surprise. An unforgettable
scene right amidst the audience.
5
BOOM! combines circus acrobatics with archetypical mask theatre,
distinctive of the Commedia dell’arte. Enacting six different characters,
PETER SWEET and DAVID POZNANTER provide for an entire circus show,
including juggling, slackrope, cyr wheel and live music. BOOM! – this is
spontaneous interactions with the audience, heart-touching dramas and
hilariously funny moments of sheer humanity.
With this stage piece they give new impetus to traditional mask theatre!
6
The stranger comes rolling up, bubbling and steaming. Inside the mini
vintage car, a scuba diver is sharing the driver’s cabin with a school of
goldfish. Who is the exotic one, fish or man, the observer or the object
of observation, gill breather or lung breather? This vehicle knows no
fears of contact. It is an interactive and perplexing giant aquarium on
wheels. A moving interactive installation... or even better, an exotic
street phenomenon which the audience will keep in wet memory for sure.
7
Direct from Wellington, New Zealand, the world’s only street fighting
clown: FRASER HOOPER will challenge anyone who dares to enter the
boxing ring with him! He’s a must-see for all sport fans, bellyaching
knockout guaranteed.
Due to his unique humour, the award-winning clown and festival favourite
has excited audiences of all ages with a classic blend of jocular audience
involvement, slapstick and a complete neglect of his own safety.
8
With a single piece of chalk in his hand, DANIE JORDENS mingles with his
audience. Strolling along the streets, he will inspire the crowd with his
minimalist theatrical performance. Simply by his pleasant ways he will
enchant the audience. What will remain is their looks of amazement and
affection, and traces of chalk on the streets of the city. This is mimic
street theatre at its very finest!
9
There is a junction between love and despair in each relationship – from
where it is being pushed up or forced down. A certain point at which
affection turns to rejection, delight turns to despair, and love turns to
hate. TE ODIERO borrow this theme and translate it through dance into
something totally new that will leave nobody untouched. An exceptional
dance performance – conjoining, saltational, moving.
10
A beautiful and desirable woman calls upon the public to go searching
for
love with her. She came here to find the man of her heart. Romantically
and passionately, she will cook dinner for him: „AUX PETITS OIGNONS“
(„BITTERSWEET ONIONS“). But things are not exactly turning out the
way she was hoping. Cutting the onions brings a flood of tears to her
eyes that she cannot staunch. Losing control, she gives vent to what’s
underneath her seduction plan. A hilariously disturbing splatter treat.
11
Three young ladies bid the audience to enter and explore their little world
with them. It is a world of glamour and earth, of humour and power, of
love and death. Among these, the trio are trying to find a balance. Life
balance, a balance of love and sadness, and a balanced equilibrium
between themselves.
With sticks, glass splinters, sharp knives and their bodies intertwined,
movement by movement the three women slowly disclose their secrets.
And they release the audience into their own respective realities
transformed and spellbound.
12
Ten survivors from all four directions are looking for shelter and straying
across a desolate wasteland. Through a hole in the scenery they get into
a new world. It is a world of boundless possibilities whose inhabitants
show their gratitude through motionlessness. Is this a sign of their
culture of welcome? Drawing on the achievements and memories of his
childhood days, actor MARTIN LESSMANN creates an audacious small-
scale vision of the future. A miniature world dealing with life’s big
questions.
13
BLACK – a bittersweet study of a clown at the edge of the abyss
MATTHIAS ROMIR’s new show ist like good coffee: bitter as life, black as
the future. BLACK is a marvellously amusing story about the shady sides
of bohemian life. Here you can gaze in amazement at things you would
normally laugh about, and you can laugh about things that would
normally make your laughter stick in your throat. BLACK is failure on a
grand scale. BLACK is expressive juggling and depressive buffoonery,
BLACK is contemporary craziness up to its bitter end. But principally,
BLACK is hilarious.
14
Loneliness and happiness, a tramp and a runaway bride: BENCH is about
everyday occurrences, our hometown, and its dwellers coming and going.
BENCH is located on, in front of, behind and beneath a park bench, being
performed by a lady who casually flips upside down to see if the world
looks better from this perspectice. MIMBRE combines breathtaking
theatre with sensual dance and celestial acrobatics.
15
Before the troupe of HYRRÄTYTÖ will deliver their extraordinary evening
performance in the Schaulust theatre at the Bremen freight station,
some of the artists give us a partial pretaste of their repertoire during
the day. MARCUS JEROCH and ZINZI & EVERTJAN, already well known to
the LA STRADA audience, are ready to carry them off their feet once
more this year with verbal acrobatics, wordplay and acrobatic feats at
the highest stage!
16
PERKY and FIDDLE – these are two lawn gnomes who are trying to escape
their dull existence spent with maintenance and watering. Way down
deep inside them they have a dream of living it up in the wild world of
rock’n’roll. In an unwatched moment, the two dwarves and their
wheelbarrow set out into the world and, soon after, deliver their totally
‘outlaw(n)ed’ show, featuring rabbits and carrots, a freakshow, tap
dance and wild music. Jolly folly!
17
From the outside, the market booth looks like a regular butchery. A
warm welcome to BOUCHERIE BACUL and their exceptional assortment!
Yet nothing is what it seems! The holders of this quirky market wagon
hand out their morbid and freaky merchandise to the people in a rude to
humorous manner. It’s a delectably morbid show – but not for the faint-
hearted and animal lovers...
18
A sailing vehicle full of old stories. Stories of places threatened by
devastation or oblivion. Being saved in large test tubes in which
CORNELIS keeps them alive. CORNELIS himself is half a fisherman, half a
rambler. He preserves precious memories of where neighbourhoods were
knocked down, dykes have collapsed, and where land is being engulfed
by the expansion of industrial areas. He treasures these stories and
keeps them alive by sharing them with anybody, albeit without words…
19
„ROSA SEES RED“ is a dance duet performed by two women – full of
longing and affection, brimful of zest, grit and despair. Dancing and
playing, they move towards one another and apart again. Charmingly
wild and demandingly red, they wander around with their suitcases, then
they settle themselves, just to fling straight into life. A duet, starting
with the young and the old, ending up in life itself, in togetherness and
coexistence.
20
This miniature performance takes place in the FUSENTAST Panopticum
and can be viewed through four peepholes. The show tells the true story
of 6-year-old Ole Myrseth. On Friday October 13, 1899, Ole was allowed
to join his father, then commander of the steamer FORSA, in a fish catch
event in the North Sea off the coast of Tritan, a Norwegian fishing
village. Instead of returning home with herring and salmon, they suffered
the worst storm of all time and the resulting catastrophe. 50 fishing
boats sank and 140 fishermen died – but Ole didn’t. He survived and
later became a great seaman traversing the oceans.
21
COUP DE FOUDRE tells of the love between two people, and also about
the love of old suitcases, cowboy boots and rubber chickens. COUP DE
FOUDRE speaks of misunderstandings and fondness, it speaks of
loneliness and the search for togetherness. In the manner of a silent film,
a man and a woman lead us into a world between dream and reality.
Nothing is as it seems in this encounter between a clown and a ballerina.
Two misfits, they are looking for love and approval while opening a
suitcase full of dreams. COUP DE FOUDRE ist magic without tricks and
poetry without words.
22
L’IMBUTEATRO is a little acoustic tidbit for one single person. The two
performers take their audience on a poetic journey into a unique
universe of sound. Holding two funnels to your ears, you will immerse
into the world of a poetic short story. Relaxation, joy, astonishment and
a feeling of having experienced something magical will have a lingering
resonance...
23
„Switch off your mobile – switch off your brain!“ With these words, the
trio THREE OF A KIND welcomes their audience. And if you let yourself in
for it, you will experience absurdly funny physical theatre packed with
emotions, spontaneity and interactive joy of playing. None of their
performances is quite like the other because the three protagonists
always give their show on the spur of the moment. There seem to be no
rules: As soon as one is found, it will be broken again. Great funky fun!
24
Fortune favours the brave!
10 young Bremen street theatre artists from ages 14 to 20 are sharing
one goal: finding ultimate happiness! Performing a running act, the
ragtag troupe sets out to delight and to confuse the passers-by.
Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes loud, sometimes muted…
each one is looking for their very personal moment of happiness. May be
you will catch a glimpse of it too with the TURM:KINDER (TOWER:KIDS)
ON THE RUN!
With this mise-en-scènce, LA STRADA is happy to give a forum to young
artists of Bremen.
25
What would happen if your house could talk? What could its walls tell
about you?
A musical and visual performance with image projections drawn in real
time. The reconstruction of a love story with a house as the antagonist
in the play. A dweller and her removals assistant get lost in memories
which are unsheathed from underneath layers of old wallpaper. Poetic,
funny and stunningly close, VAN WELZENIS and SCHELLEKENS narrate
a story with high recognition potential for anyone who has loved before,
or has moved house before.
26
Three performers, three artistic disciplines, three countries of origin,
one show!
What do you get when a Finn, a Frenchman and an Englishman meet at
a school of dance and circus in the capital of Sweden and decide on
banding together and merging their talents? You get a show where
juggling, diabolo and acrobatics do not stand by themselves but are
joined together in an impressive and rousing performance. A one-of-a-
kind premiere!
LA STRADA is happy to invite this young trio to Bremen directly from
circus school.
©2015 KK-7 für Programmheft LA STRADA, Bremen]