Empty City (UA)
State Theatre Kassel, 2023
Investigative Performance
Premiere May 19, 2023
In Empty city andpartnersincrime juxtaposes Kassel's empty houses with the stories of those who no longer live there. The people, the evicted, the homeless. Through interviews with Kassel residents who are acutely threatened by eviction and displacement, they bring their experiences to the stage.
For the piece, andpartnersincrime, together with the film collective “Freelance Underground,” conducted investigative research into the connection between vacant properties and homelessness.
In a series of film interviews, director Eleonora Herder approaches the personal stories of Kassel residents who either lost their homes because they were evicted due to economic hardship, who were threatened with such eviction at a certain point in their lives, or who have been living without a permanent residence for some time.
On stage, the two investigative journalists Max (Marius Bistritzky) and Nika (Sandro Šutalo) shed light on the structural background of speculative vacancy and a "second wave" of gentrification currently affecting the city of Kassel. During their research, they come across increasingly controversial cases and dubious strategies of real estate and investment funds, as well as public housing companies. Not everything the two discover on stage is fiction...
Information at: PROGRAM BOOKLET Empty City (world premiere)
With: Marius Bistritzky and Sandro Šutalo
As well as interviews with: Bettina v. Klopmann, Faowzia M., Hildegard Schwarz, Jenny Schirmer, Richard Brox, Siegfried Matzel, Tine Krauskopf, Ulrike Petschelt and “Nora”.
Direction / Texts / Costumes: Eleonora Herder
Direction / Research: Inga Bendukat
Dramaturgy: Katja Prussas
Set design: Johanne Schröder
Video documentation and editing: Michael Trammer and Raphael Knipping (Freelance Underground)
Music: Jan Mech
Assistant Director/ Evening Director: Tim Wittkop
Equipment Assistant: Kuan-Jung Lai
Prompter/ Production Internship: Anna Zoé Bellmann
Scientific assistance: Gabu Heindl, Vincent Hildenhagen, Nina Manz, Florine Schüschke.
An investigative theater piece by andpartnersincrime and Freelance Underground in cooperation with Kassel-based initiatives and the homeless. The performance is dedicated to WH22 and its fight for more open spaces.
This project was scientifically accompanied by a research semester on the topic of vacancy at the University of Kassel, FB06 Architecture – Urban Planning – Landscape Planning
andpartnersincrime is supported by the multi-year funding of the Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main
The premiere of the play "Empty City" at the Theater im Fridericianum was preceded by extensive research. The audience greeted the way the results were brought to the stage on Friday evening with enthusiastic applause. […] How was it? Stirring.
Hessian/Lower Saxony General, 22.05.2023, Mark-Christian von Busse
"You don't even grant the homeless the dirt under their fingernails," raps rapper Disaster. The Kassel State Theater wants to "pick out the dirt with toothpicks" with a theater evening and smear it on the lunches of those responsible. For this, they are working with Asphalt to seek out contemporary witnesses and those affected for interviews..
Asphalt magazine 03/2023, March 7, 2023, Ute Kahle
The media and performance group andpartnersincrime wants to contrast Kassel's empty houses with the stories of those who no longer live there.
Hessian/Lower Saxony General, March 9, 2023, Bettina Fraschke
For the theatre production “Empty City” (premiere 19 May), the Staatstheater Kassel is looking for people who want to talk about their experiences with evictions, the fear of homelessness and displacement and life on the street.
Online newspaper for the Schwalm-Eder district, February 24, 2023, Gerald Schmidtkunz