María F. Giacaman Hasbún: ghostbox – caja fantasma – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

María F. Giacaman Hasbún: ghostbox – caja fantasma

Silhouettes of two people against an evening sky fading from blue to soft orange. One person rests a hand on the other’s shoulder, while the other tilts their head to the side. A dark building edge cuts diagonally into the frame on the left, and street lamps glow at the bottom.
Back to the start page

ghostbox – caja fantasma is a sound lecture performance about ghosts, siblinghood, and lost futures. Director and performer María F. Giacaman Hasbún and her brother, sound artist Juan Lázaro, invite the audience to an intimate listening session. Drawing on their own family history and inspired by Latin American ghost stories, they set out in search of their own ghosts.

Through live sound and storytelling, an acoustic séance unfolds in which live voices, analog synthesizers, and archival recordings merge into a gentle haunting. The lecture performance becomes an active practice of remembrance and mourning: repressed and forgotten stories become audible once more, and ghosts take shape as figures that can be experienced both physically and sonically. 

Together, the siblings explore the uncanny from psychoanalytical and Marxist perspectives. A ghost is that which refuses to accept a given reality; the idea that our present is haunted by a future that was promised to us but never arrived. In a culture that seems stuck in repetition, where alternative ways of living together are becoming increasingly difficult to imagine, ghosts appear as reminders of lost futures. What if our ghosts conceal what is still possible?

Premiere Ticket
Ticket
Ticket

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).

Early boarding

If, for artistic reasons, the door to the auditorium does not open until very shortly before the performance begins, 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 at the house here.

Direction, performance: María F. Giacaman Hasbún
Sound design, sound performance: Juan Lazaro
Video, stage: Rocío Rodríguez
Lighting, stage, technical direction: Nicolás Russi
Outside eye, dramaturgy: Marielle Schavan

A production by María F. Giacaman Hasbún in co-production with Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion of the State of Berlin. Supported by the Fleetstreet Residency in Hamburg. Media partners: The Berliner, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz, tip Berlin.

María F. Giacaman Hasbún is a director and performer. Working at the intersection of artistic research and performance, she explores theater as a space for collective witnessing and as a tool for analyzing power structures. She studied acting in Chile and Staging of the Arts and Media in Hildesheim. She is a founding member of the collective what about: fuego, with whom she has performed at the Performing Arts Festival Berlin, Politik im Freien Theater, Körber Studio Junge Regie, Schauspiel Köln, ROXY Birsfelden and Sophiensæle. She also collaborates with other independent groups such as Henrike Iglesias.

Juan Lázaro is a Chilean sound designer, composer, and live performer based in Berlin. His work sits at the intersection of experimental music, electronic performance, and contemporary theater. Through improvisation and experimentation, he explores the performative potential of synthesizers and spatial sound. He creates sound designs for theater productions and experimental concerts and is a member of the performance collective what about: fuego and the audiovisual duo ALNITHRA.incidents.

Rocío Rodríguez is a Berlin-based freelance filmmaker and visual artist. She studied dance, then film as well as communication and cultural studies, and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in contemporary philosophy. On various projects, she has been responsible for creating live video in performance contexts, working with groups such as She She Pop, Gob Squad, and KMZ-Kollektiv, as well as with the poetry festival Siesta and the Radar Ost festival.

Marielle Schavan studied creative writing and Staging of the Arts and Media at the University of Hildesheim. She is a founding member of the theater collective Henrike Iglesias, with whom she has developed numerous performances since 2012, touring both nationally and internationally. She also works as an author, performer, and dramaturg on independent theater projects and discursive formats, such as the feminist dream school ACADEMY, the inclusive performance café KAFi Q with actors from Theater HORA, and with choreographer and director Olivia Hyunsin Kim.

Nicolás Russi works as a lighting designer and technician for various productions in theater, dance, and concert formats across Germany and Chile. He studied theater in Santiago de Chile as well as Staging of the Arts and Media in Hildesheim. As a technical director and lighting designer, he has toured extensively throughout Germany and Latin America for various productions. In addition, he has worked as an event technician for numerous venues and festivals, including HAU, Radialsystem, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover, Festival Santiago a Mil, Teatro UC, and the lighting company Oxiluz.

  • A dark stage with a blurred projection in the background. On the left, a person in black sits at a table operating a synthesizer with patch cables. On the right, a person in a light patterned blouse stands at a lectern with a microphone, looking towards the audience.
    © Natalia Dymkowski
  • Two people in black clothing on a dark stage, seen from above at an angle. In the foreground, a person sits on a low ledge and speaks into a handheld microphone. Behind them, a person at a table operates a synthesizer with colourful cables.
    © Natalia Dymkowski
  • Silhouettes of two people against an evening sky fading from blue to soft orange. One person rests a hand on the other’s shoulder, while the other tilts their head to the side. A dark building edge cuts diagonally into the frame on the left, and street lamps glow at the bottom.
    © Natalia Dymkowski