Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim: Baby, I’m Sick Tonight – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim:
Baby, I’m Sick Tonight
Baby, I’m Sick Tonight
German, English with German and English surtitles
10€/15€
Sunday, 28.04.2024 | Performance with German audio description. The preceding tactile tour takes place from 17:00 to 17:30.
All performances with interpretation of spoken language in German Sign Language.
All performances take place as Relaxed Performances.
From the perspective of a queer woman of color with chronic illness, Olivia Hyunsin Kim experiments with the format of stand-up comedy. In collaboration with other chronically ill artists, she is looking for forms of self-empowering humor.
Current discourses critical of capitalism often depict people with chronic illnesses in a romanticized or simplified way. They are read as resistant bodies that counteract capitalism – for example through different temporalities or failure of expected productivity – while aspects such as constant pain or the necessity of crip time, for example, are ignored.
Together with her team, Olivia Hyunsin Kim uses dance and narrative to counter stigmatization and prejudice against artists with invisible disabilities or people who are falsely read as healthy. The artists use the means of stand-up, pop and performance in a radically unruly and humorous way to connect the cultural history of hysteria, today's treatment of sick female queer people and the body images of the contemporary dance scene, among other things.
- The play addresses chronic illnesses, death, miscarriage, violence, as well as experiences of discrimination and violence in medical contexts (especially in contemporary gynaecology, but also historical experiments on ill people, including with the diagnosis of “hysteria” in the 19th century, some of which are also documented in photographs; as well as forced sterilizations in the context of “Aktion T4” under National Socialism).
- There are pictures of needles and illustrations of surgical procedures.
You can find more information on working with content notes on the house here.
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
- ca. 90 minutes
Language
- German and English spoken language
- Interpretation of spoken language in German Sign Language
- Surtitles in German and English written language
Audio description
- The performance on 28 April will take place with German audio description.
- The preceding tactile tour takes place at 7 pm. The meeting point for the tactile tours is in front of the box office in the courtyard.
- You can find more information about audio descriptions and pick-up service at Sophiensaele here.
Stage
- Inflatable elements
- Display of videos using projections and screens with some fast cut sequences
- Fog machines are used
Light
- The audience is illuminated by colored light at certain points in the play
- No flashing lights, strobe effects or spotlights directed into the audience are used
- There are very dark scenes, but the light in the audience area stays on dimly the whole time
- Rapid lighting changes are used
Sound
- Some sounds are played at low frequencies (not below 40hz)
- A choir will sing live on stage
- Sounds and music will be physically and haptically perceptible
Atmosphere
- The audience is addressed directly in the comedy scenes
- There is no obligation to respond when directly adressed
Other effects
- Foam with a soap-like odor is used
Audience area
- Seated grandstand
- 5 beanbag seats bookable according to availability
- 2 wheelchair seats bookable according to availability
Relaxed Performance
- All performances take place as Relaxed Performances.
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 here.
Content Note
- The play addresses chronic illnesses, death, miscarriage, violence, as well as experiences of discrimination and violence in medical contexts (especially in contemporary gynaecology, but also historical experiments on ill people, including with the diagnosis of “hysteria” in the 19th century, some of which are also documented in photographs; as well as forced sterilizations in the context of “Aktion T4” under National Socialism).
- There are pictures of needles and illustrations of surgical procedures.
You can find more information on working with content notes on the house here.
Choreography, performance: Olivia Hyunsin Kim
Costume, stage: Kristin Gerwien
Sound environment: Martyna Poznańska
Video, lights: Jones Seitz
Technical direction: Gefährliche Arbeit
Dramaturgy: Marielle Schavan
Access consulting: Hyemi Jolee
Production management: ehrliche arbeit – freelance office for culture
Assistant stage, costumes and production: : Luca Plaumann
Light foam object: Susana Alonso und Jones Seitz
Graphic design: Christian Cattelan
Sound design: Elisabeth Enke
Hysterical choir: Yvonne Sembene, Jill B. Suffner
Interpretation in DGS (German sign language): Hyemi Jolee und Aniella Tiedje
Audio description in tandem: Swantje Henke und Gerald Pirner
Surtitles: Elena Polzer and Luca Plaumann
We wish to thank: Dornika Kazerani, Isabel Gatzke, Naomi Boyce, Tanzhalle Wiesenburg and the RED Residency Programme of Tanzfabrik Berlin
A production by ddanddarakim in coproduction with Sophiensæle. Funded by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds. Media partners: Siegessäule and 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.