There’s no business like show business. In their first performance evening together, Melanie Jame Wolf and Teresa Vittucci explore the problems and pleasures of: What does it take to make a show great? Both known for their intense solo work and powerful stage presence, the two queer-feminist artists take a close look at popular entertainment, theater and the politics of spectacle, exploring the long held trope of the double act: its tender intimacies, its power dynamics, but also the ways in which it is triangulated by its audience and by the stage space itself.
The performance invites us to critically and humorously question the tension between seeing and being seen, and examine together the poetics and politics of the show as a complex cultural phenomenon.
The piece lasts 60-70 minutes and addresses an adult audience. The language is English spoken language. There are some abrupt light changes, stroboscope and blinding light effects as well as light reflections by mirroring. There is loud music, which sometimes comes as a surprise. The audience area on the grandstand is seated. There are two wheelchair spaces and one beanbag seat that can be reserved by phone or booked via the online ticket shop, if available. The accessibility information will be continuously updated. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Gina Jeske at jeske@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35.
Melanie Jame Wolf is a visual artist, choreographer and writer. She works solo and with friends, making interdisciplinary pieces about flows of immaterial capital and power. She examines these economies and entanglements through projects for theater, gallery, and screen spaces. She premiered her first solo performance Mira Fuchs at Tanztage Berlin at Sophiensaele in 2015. Her most recent work for the stage was TONIGHT (Sophiensaele, 2019). Her most recent solo exhibition was Two Years Elapse Between the Third and Fourth Act at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2021).
Teresa Vittucci is a dancer and choreographer based in Zürich. She graduated from Vienna Conservatory, The Ailey School, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) and the University of Arts Berne where she received her Masters in Expanded Theater. Since 2013 she has been developing a solo practice through her works UNLEASH (2012), LUNCHTIME (2015), ALL EYES ON (2017) and HATE ME, TENDER (2018). She has collaborated with several artists and institutions including Staatstheater Mainz, Benny Claessens, Simone Aughterlony, Marie Caroline Hominal, Trajal Harrell, Gil and Nils Amadeus Lange.
CONCEPT, CREATIVE DIRECTION Melanie Jame Wolf TEXT, CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE Melanie Jame Wolf, Teresa Vittucci COSTUME & STYLING Evan Loxton with Josa Marx SET DESIGN Camille Lacadee SOUND DESIGN Mars Dietz LIGHT DESIGN Thais Nepomuceno ASSISTANT Evan Loxton DRAMATURGICAL SUPPORT Sharon Smith PRODUCTION Joseph Wegmann
A production by Melanie Jame Wolf in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE and Theater Neumarkt. Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Media partner: taz.die tageszeitung