Barnett Cohen: pain is a cave – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Barnett Cohen: pain is a cave
New York-based artist Barnett Cohen comes to Sophiensæle for the first time. In their works, Cohen combines text-based scores and choreography into a total work of art. By weaving original writing with found language from text messages, dating apps, speculative fiction, queer theory, and poetry, splintering linear time, gender, and sexuality into elusive forms, figureless existences, and subversive calls to action.
The choreography, too, draws on a rich tapestry of movement vocabularies: pre-modern, modern, and post-modern dance, stage combat and intimacy work, video games, cheerleading, beauty pageants, dance competitions, rave culture, and TikTok – all flowing into each other like a digital stream. Within this spectrum of movement, the performers engage in precisely choreographed collisions, fight scenes, and queer touch. Bodies crash into each other in controlled ways, ending in tender embraces. This reflects a queer body politics – from burbling rage to dreams of violence, strategic invisibility, and defiant presence to a desire for intimacy. Along the way, the performers draw the audience into the collective thrill of world-building.
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.
Choreography: Barnett Cohen
Performance: Sally Butin, Ina Jia Guo, Ted Littlemore, Maque Pereyra, Veronika Tikhonova
Production management: Moira L Sunter Garee
Intimacy coordination: : Frida Giulia Franceschini
Stylists: JenniLee, Mané Bonamin
Photographer: Peteris Viksna
Lighting design: Jazz
A production by Barnett Cohen in co-production with Sophiensæle and Callie’s. Media partners: The Berliner, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz, tip Berlin.
Barnett Cohen is a New York-based visual artist and choreographer who composes text-based scores for experimental dance performance. Cohen has presented work at the Venice Biennale 2026, Amant, Canal Projects as part of Performa 2023, The Centre Wallonie Bruxelles as part of Performissima, Kunsthall Trondheim, Judson Memorial Church (as part of Movement Research and JUF), RECESS, with Creamcake at Tropez, JOAN, The Center For Performance Research, The Exponential Festival, International Objects, The Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, LAXART, Human Resources, The Box, REDCAT, Rupert, Ryan Lee Gallery, JDJ, and the International Center of Photography. In 2021, Open Space/SFMOMA published a collection of their poems alongside those of late artist and collaborator Simone Forti. Cohen has been in-residence at Pioneer Works, Denniston Hill, Skowhegan, MacDowell, Rupert, NARS and Callie’s. Cohen is a grant recipient from The Foundation For Contemporary Arts. His work has been reviewed and featured in BOMB, The New Yorker, The New York Times, T Magazine, Artforum, The Brooklyn Rail, hyperallergic, Cultured, The Financial Times, and Riting among others.
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© Peteris Viksna -
© Peteris Viksna -
© Peteris Viksna -
© Peteris Viksna -
© Peteris Viksna