Pelenakeke Brown:
Enter // Return

For the first time in Germany, the festival Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer presents a work by the Sāmoan/Pākeha artist Pelenakeke Brown. As a radical act, Pelenakeke places the queer, crip, indigenous body at the center of the performance. The piece follows associations around the two titular terms of Enter and Return, which she links to Indigenous concepts of space and time. At the same time, the words stand for two of the most important keys on the computer keyboard, giving us the opportunity to enter digital spaces. During the pandemic, inside spaces and home became much more than a place to shelter for many people: their own four walls were suddenly a sanctuary from the precarity of the outside world, where the Internet often acted as a portal. Thus, Pelenakeke Brown searches for the location of the queer, indigenous, and crip body in (digital) space. At the same time, the piece explores questions about social notions of dance and movement. With her collective of disabled artists, Pelenakeke Brown takes a new look at aesthetics and the art of the disabled body in this interdisciplinary performance.

The festival Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer takes place in cooperation with the Schwulen Museum, which presents the exhibition of the same name from September 1 to January 30, 2023, and questions the fantasy of the ideal body with artworks by 24 international contemporary artists.

Download the Complete Festival Programme

The performance lasts approximately 50 minutes and is in English and Sāmoan spoken language. The text is available in written form from the admission staff. A smoke machine is deployed at the beginning and end of the performance. The show uses surround sound and live music (drumming and clapping), whereby the drumming can get very loud. If you are sensitive to noise, we recommend seats on the outer edge and earplugs (available from the admission staff). Some scenes take place in almost complete darkness. Throughout the performance, fast-moving, circling and from time to time distorted animations are projected on the floor as well as on angled banners hanging from the ceiling. In one scene, an object is swung like a lasso at a safe distance from the audience.

There is an audio description in German spoken language on September 09 with a preceding touch tour for blind and visually impaired persons. The touch tour starts 75 minutes before the show. The meeting point is at the box office in the Sophiensaele courtyard. Ticket reservations are accepted by Hannah Aldinger at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or by calling 030 278900 35. If required, we offer a pick-up service for blind and visually impaired people from the nearby S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations Hackescher Markt and Weinmeisterstraße. To make use of the pick-up service, please contact us during our business hours (Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm) at 030 27 89 00 30 or barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com.
 
The performance is a Relaxed Performance. Relaxed Performances welcome all visitors for whom sitting still for long periods of time in the theatre is a barrier (for example autistic people, people with Tourette's, learning difficulties or chronic pain). Noises and movements from the audience are very welcome. Visitors can leave and return to the auditorium at any time.
 
The audience area on the grandstand is seated. There are four wheelchair seats and four beanbag seats, which can be reserved according to availability or purchased in the online ticket shop or at the box office. Persons with disabilities receive reduced tickets at a price of 10€ plus one free ticket for an accompanying person. For questions or more information, please contact Hannah Aldinger at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35.

COVID-SAVE | In order to ensure greater safety distances, the auditorium is only filled to 70% of its capacity. The Sophiensaele team and the artists test themselves daily.