Ania Nowak: Lay Me Low | June 13 14 | SOPHIENSÆLE – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Ania Nowak:
Lay Me Low

Lay Me Low
Premiere
Lay Me Low is a garden performance which explores the pleasures of de/growth and eternal rest at the intersection of life and death. It juxtaposes the drive towards re/production of skill, knowledge and life itself with a fantasy of abundance beyond the logic of achievement and commodification. Excerpts from Henry Purcell’s 17th century opera Dido and Aeneas appear in the performance as an invitation to play, closeness and prolonged rest. Nature and nurture are part of this equation. So is pleasure, pain and the pleasure of pain. Can I rest my head on your heart when it hurts too much? Can this rest be for ever?
If any questions remain from the following information, please feel free to contact Hannah Aldinger at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).
Duration
- 45 minutes
Language
- Singing in English (Excerpts of an opera from the 17th century)
Stage
- The performance will take place in the Leisure Garden of the Sophiensaele. This is located in the second backyard of the house and is accessible at ground level.
Light
- The performance will take place under daylight.
- There will be no direct sunlight in the backyard.
Sound
- There is live singing as well as a soundscape in the performance.
- The soundscape uses sounds of nature as well other, rather low, sounds.
- The singing uses high and very low notes.
- In the Garden there are 5 loud speaker playing higher and lower notes.
Audience
- There are various seating options (bench, seat cushions on the floor, chairs, beanbag seats, wheelchair seats).
- 2 beanbag seats bookable according to availability
- 2 wheelchair seats bookable according to availability
- The performers speak directly to the audience.
Early Boarding
- There is the option of early boarding.
Tickets
- Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
- Via the online ticket shop
- At the box office
You can also find more information about accessibility here.
CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE, TEXT selection Ania Nowak CREATION, PERFORMANCE, VOCAL COACHING Jess Aszodi SOUND Justyna Stasiowska COSTUME Grzegorz Matląg OUTSIDE EYE Julia Plawgo
A production by Ania Nowak in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE within the frame of Leisure & Pleasure, supported by the Capital Cultural Fund. Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Media partners: Arts of the Working Class, Berlin Art Link, Kulturplakatierung, Missy Magazine, Rausgegangen, tip Berlin, taz.die tageszeitung.
Ania Nowak approaches vulnerability and desire as ways towards reimagining what bodies and language can and cannot do. Nowak develops formats such as live and video performance, installation and text. In her practice Nowak engages with bodies in their nonlinear feeling and thinking capacity to tackle the intricacies of companionship and care in times of perpetual crisis.
Her work attempts to reimagine the notions of disorder, pleasure, disease, intimacy, pain, sexuality, class and accessibility as sites of binary free living. Nowak’s works have been presented at Sophiensæle, Berlinische Galerie, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Akademie der Künste, KW Pogo Bar, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; Salzburger Kunstverein; 14th Baltic Triennial at CAC Vilnius and 12th Gothenburg Biennial for Contemporary Art, amongst others. Nowak recently held solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw an Galerie Wedding – Raum für zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin.
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Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
Foto: Mayra Wallraff -
© Ania Nowak