Things That Surround Us

We are surrounded by omnipresent objects, both in the grammatical sense and in everyday life. Like sleepwalkers, we move through an obstacle course of gadgets that faithfully carry out their usual functions. We can name them and use them. They are silent witnesses of our daily actions, and passively accept our need to use them to make coffee, do the laundry or clean the floor. But are they truly so passive? Objects not only fulfil certain functions, but also demand certain things of us: they predetermine our actions and demand a special repertoire of movement so that we can feel a sense of success with their help. Their demands have become as natural as breathing to us – through them, we subconsciously navigate the complex choreography of our everyday life. But what happens when these objects no longer react in the way that we expect them to? If chairs no longer give us the support we expect and brooms lose their ability to clean?

In Things that surround us, three performers enter the world of things, in which first impressions are always deceptive. Not one of the objects lives up to its trusted role. With acrobatic skill and dancers’ expressiveness alongside philosophical wit, the performers explore the new rules of a reliable world. The usual chain of associations starts to break up. Sometimes haltingly, sometimes smoothly, connections are made that are occasionally disturbing, which on second glance offer a new start. With Things that surround us Public in Private's insights into the puzzling world of the magic of objects allows us to perceive familiar things in a new light.

With his debut Allege, Clément Layes inspired audiences at European festivals and played skilfully with our view of the world. In his latest work, Things that surround us, the world as we know it looks back at us and shatters our usual routines.

ConCept, ChoreograPHY Clément Layes Performance, Co-ChoreograPHY Felix Marchand, Ante Pavic, Vincent Weber DramaturgY Florian Feigl DramaturgY, ChoreograPHYJasna Layes-Vinovrski SCENOGRAPHY, ObjeCtS Marinus van Eldik LiGht Ruth Waldeyer MusiC Tian Rotteveel COMPANY MANAGEMENT björn & björn

Produced by Public in Private in collaboration with Workspace Brussels and SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by Regierender Bürgermeister von Berlin – Senatskanzlei – Kulturelle Angelegenheiten and Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.. Special thanks to BSR, Haver & Boecker, Alfred Kärcher GmbH and Kärcher Center Benne and our media partner taz.die tageszeitung.

photo © Gianina Urmeneta-Ottiker