ARE YOU THERE. .تو اونجایی (Tehran/Frankfurt)

In the autumn of 2015 S. fled from Teheran to Frankfurt in the search of a new life. A few month later L. travels to Tehran for a theater production in search of herself and a friend who disappeared.

While S. is worried about leaving no traces on his way to Germany, L. encounters the traces of stories that are no longer being told.

Through Telegram and Skype they both keep recieving the same kind of messages: Where are you? Are you there yet?

Two journeys in two opposite directions. Between projection and reality. A movement that crosses borders, along the traces of our present time. The intent of a reconstruction.

Both document their journeys with audio recordings. Because images are dangerous but listening is not a crime.

A production of:

ARE YOU THERE is mapping different moments of a plot which is happening somewhere between Iran and Germany. The performer Malte Scholz tries to reconstruct the disappearance of the director L. in Tehran basing his research on documentary material. By putting together the small pieces of a puzzle he gets, step by step, on the track of S., who is escaping from Iran to Europe. During Maltes investigation the paths of both characters seem to cross in an enigmatic way.

 The story behind ARE YOU THERE is a journey of the Frankfurt based performance artists Eleonora Herder and Malte Scholz, who worked for two months at the City Theatre in Tehran. After their return they met Saeed Sedaghat, who in autumn of 2015 fled from Iran to Frankfurt following the Balkan-route. The performance tells the story of these two different journeys on what is apparently the same route, thereby revealing a lot about our current situation in a globalised world. It deals with borders that we carry with us and that are constantly drawn anew — turning every place into a frontier. It tells about being on the way and (not) arriving, and about dreams and misunderstandings.

Artistic direction: Eleonora Herder
Dramaturgy: Tim Schuster
Performers: Lela Herder, Saaed Sedaghat & Malte Scholz
Sound design: Jan Mech
Stagedesign: Anna Sukhova
Research and Advisory: Shahrzad Osterer
Original music: Martin Shamoonpour
Original Fotos and Videos: Michael Bloos

"An intricate and multi-layered little production... Are You There gives a voice to those who can no longer bear their country in an atmospherically dense production." Sylvia Staude, "Who Plays Loses"

Frankfurter Rundschau, March 18, 2017

"Real events and fictional additions interpenetrate each other; in the constant alternation between spoken passages, superimposed maps, and videos, the highly credible and intensely tangible document of an escape emerges, despite all its questionable nature." Matthias Bischoff, "Through the Long Tunnel of the Balkan Route"

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 21, 2017 

“The fantastic technical realization of the everyday, bizarre, ambiguous story is impressive... High praise for Jan Mech's sound design of the street, driving, and bazaar scenes.” Marcus Hladek, “Bizarre Escape from Tehran”

Frankfurter Neue Presse, March 24, 2017 

“The performance seeks to negotiate the question of whether the Iranian, labeled as a foreign refugee, will at some point become the person Saeed again in the general perception, or whether he will always carry the border he had to cross with him.” Marie-Sophie Adeoso, “Narrated Reality of Refugee”

Frankfurter Rundschau, March 15, 2017

“Are you there? Is the accompanying and guiding question to travelers that repeatedly resounds through digital communication media.” La Balzer, “Are you there”

Journal Frankfurt, No. 7 March 2017

Premiere:

March 16, 2017 at Landing stages, in Frankfurt am Main.

Shows:

17.03.2017 and 18.03.2017 at Landing stages, in Frankfurt am Main

June 21, 2018, June 22 and June 23, 2018 at Landing stages, in Frankfurt am Main

Upcoming:

July 2019, Sommerwerft theater festival on the river, Frankfurt am Main