Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim: Be thankful, they said | Oct 04, 05, 06, 07 | Festsaal – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

Saison 24/25
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Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim:
Be thankful, they said

_Be thankful,they said_©MayraWallraff-high_res-65
Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim:
Be thankful, they said
Dance, Performance
Duration: 1h
German, English, Korean, Swedish, comprehensible without knowledge of Korean and Swedish
10€/15€

Relaxed Performance

04.10./ 05.10. with German Sign Language interpretation of spoken language

05.10. With audio description (German). The tactile tour beforehand starts at 19:00.

You can register for audio description and pick-up service Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 18:00 via 030 27 89 00 30 or barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com.

2023 marked the 70th anniversary of the first transnational adoption from South Korea and the critical voices of adoptees have never been louder. In Be thankful, they said, the international artistic team around Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim humorously re-appropriates clichéd adoption narratives, confronts the erasure of their identities and shows how those affected reclaim their own stories.

Based on interviews with experts, artists and activists from the South Korean diaspora, who were themselves adopted as children into Western countries, the performance traces the aftermath of a history of global entanglements that still receives little attention. A history that was not only characterized by charity and humanitarian aid intentions, but also by the reproduction of colonial structures, white savior fantasies, patriarchal oppression, forced migration and human trafficking. How do transnational adoptees reflect on their childhood in retrospect? And what political demands arise today from the lived experience of transnationally adopted people?

Be thankful, they said is a multidisciplinary artistic exploration of (pop) cultural and media images of transnational adoption and the real individual perspectives of the people affected.

The play deals with the experiences of transnationally adopted people and their biological mothers. The topics addressed are colonialism, racism, white rescue fantasies, physical violence, poverty, forced migration, forced separation, stillbirth and child abduction. Flight, war, protests and (military) dictatorships are mentioned in a historical context. The footage shows, among other things, the transportation of babies from South Korea in stacked boxes on an airplane.

The information on accessibility is still in progress and will be updated as soon as possible. If any questions remain unanswered until then, please feel free to contact the communication department 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

  • 70 minutes without break

Language

  • German, English, Korean and Swedish spoken language with subtitles (no language skills required for Korean and Swedish)
  • Translation of spoken language into German Sign Language (DGS) on 04.10. and 05.10.

Audio description

  • The performance on October 5 will take place with German audio description.
  • The preceding tactile tour will take place on October 5 at 7 pm. The meeting point for the tactile tours is in front of the box office in the courtyard.
  • If required, we offer a pick-up service for blind and visually impaired people from the nearby S-Bahn and streetcar stations before the tactile tours. These are the S-Bahn Hackescher Markt, the U-Bahn Weinmeisterstraße or the streetcar station Weinmeisterstraße/Gipsstraße. To make use of the pick-up service, please contact us during our business hours (Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm) on 030 27 89 00 35 or barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com.
  • You can find more information about audio descriptions and pick-up service at the Sophiensaele here.

Light

  • The lighting situation is neither too dark nor too bright.
  • There are light changes. These are not sudden.

Sound

  • There is an atmospheric soundscape. There are songs in some places.
  • There are no loud or sudden sound effects.

Audience

  • Seated grandstand
  • 2 beanbag seats bookable subject to availability
  • 2 wheelchair spaces bookable subject to availability

Early boarding

  • There will be a long admission. The doors will open 20 minutes before the start.

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 at the house here.

Artistic direction, choreography: Olivia Hyunsin Kim
Dance: Daniel Jeremiah Persson
Korean Traditional Dance Coach: Ji Sun Hagen
Video design, lighting: Jones Seitz
Stage: Soojin Oh
Costumes: Kristin Gerwien, Arnita Jaunsubrena
Sound artist: Tatiana Heumann
Technical direction: Gretchen Blegen
Dramaturgy: Maria Rößler 
Outside Eye: Lena Soon Hee Meierkord
Guest appearance: Olivia Hyunsin Kim, Ji Sun Hagen
Access consulting: Hyemi Jolee
Production management: ehrliche arbeit - freelance office for culture
Transcriptions, assistant director: Mel Brinkmann
Graphic design: Christian Cattelan
DGS interpreting: Hyemi Jolee, Aniella Tiedje, Lisa Leonhardt
Audio description: Hannah Aldinger, Ari Althaus, Johanna Krins
First movement research: Sunniva Vikør Egenes
Thanks to: kimura byol lemoine, Mirae kh RHEE, Kang Yoon Jung aka Martine Lunshof, Vic So Hee Alz, Le Dan, Maïté Minh Tâm Maeum Jeannolin, Deann Borshay Liem, Lena Soon Hee Meierkord, Chale Gobbett, Isabel, Joon Hee (Erika) Blikman, Melanie, Tobias Hübinette, Kim Sang-Mee, Do-Hyun Kim (KoRoot), Timm Shik Therre

A production by Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim in co-production with Sophiensæle. Supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and with funds from the Capital Cultural Fund. Thanks to Uferstudios, PSR Kollektiv and Theaterhaus Berlin. Media partners: Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.

Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim work collectively on choreographic works with a queer-feminist and postcolonial focus. Through fiction, they renegotiate power relations and offer empowering alternatives to the present. Their works have been shown at Sophiensæle, Art Sonje Center, Staatsoper Hannover, Museo Universitario del Chopo, among others. The permanent team consists of Kristin Gerwien, Olivia Hyunsin Kim and Jones Seitz.

Kristin Gerwien creates costumes/objects for performances. As a singer, she explores songwriting and karaoke. She curates exciting music with Juckpulver as co-director at TNT Marburg.

Olivia Hyunsin Kim works as a choreographer, director and curator. She was a scholarship holder of danceWEB, the Tarabya Cultural Academy, Vila Sul Bahia and won 1st place in the Amadeu Antonio Art Prize in 2019. Her first opera Turning Turandot premiered in November 2023.

Daniel Jeremiah Persson is a Swedish-Korean dancer and choreographer. He has as a performer worked site-specifically and in dancetheatre contexts for choreographers such as MYKA, Khamlane Halsackda, Maria Naidu, Bobbi Lo Produktion, Adey, Body Cartography, Joan Jonas, Gracefool Collective to mention a few, touring nationally and internationally. His is artistic interests lies in topics related to queer-, intercultural- and adoptee identity and social politics which is reflected in his choreographic and performative work. Daniel is 2024 the recipient of Sparbanksstiftelsens Culture Award  in the Dance category.

Jones Seitz develops the lighting and video design for her own installations and performance projects and is a founding member of the FLINTA* network Gefährliche Arbeit e.V.

ehrliche arbeit – freelance office for culture has been a production office for the independent performing arts since 2006. As a platform and infrastructure for independent projects, ehrliche arbeit combines concept and project development with project management and production management, dramaturgy, press and public relations work, curation, editing, text work and translations. ehrliche arbeit works in Berlin but also internationally with individual artists, temporary project groups, permanent ensembles, collectives, institutions, festivals and program series. ehrliche arbeit is a collective – without hierarchies, without salary levels. 

Maria Rößler is a freelance dramaturge. As such, she works internationally with independent theater and performance makers as well as for festivals and other artistic programs.

  • _Be thankful,they said_©MayraWallraff-high_res-159
    ©Mayra Wallraff
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    ©Mayra Wallraff
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    ©Mayra Wallraff
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    ©Mayra Wallraff
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    ©Mayra Wallraff
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    ©Mayra Wallraff
  • _DSC3992-Web Q by Gedvile T
    © Gedvilė Tamošiūnaitė
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