Simone Dede Ayivi & Kompliz*innen:
Let‘s J̶u̶s̶t̶ Be Friends

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 until the day of the event.

The play lasts approximately 60 minutes without intermission and is in German spoken language. It is suitable for audiences 14 years and older. Video sequences are projected onto a large object in the room. Some of these sequences are recorded live by three cameras in the room. Diffuse lighting with soft transitions, fog, haze and a disco ball are used on stage. The music is atmospheric. The audience area is seated in the last row. In the rows in front, there are seat cushions on the terraced tribune. There are two wheelchair seats and two beanbag seats in the front row, which can be reserved or purchased at the online ticket store or box office, depending on availability. If you need a specific seat or a more relaxed admission due to visible or invisible disabilities, please arrive 20-30 minutes before the performance begins to take advantage of our early boarding offer.

CONCEPT, TEXT, PERFORMANCE Simone Dede Ayivi DRAMATURGY Aidan Riebensahm STAGE + COSTUME DESIGN Theresa Reiwer VIDEO Jones Seitz MUSIC + SOUND houaïda LIGHTING Frieder Miller PROJECT CO-WORK Charlotte Rosengarth, Luca Plaumann EQUIPMENT ASSISTANCE Laron Janus SOUND Christiane Uhlig Produktionsleitung ehrliche arbeit - freies Kulturbüro Technische Produktion Gefährliche Arbeit WITH INTERVIEWS BY Chrissi Helmke + Dirk Kaufmann, Lina Mahko + Francesca Sika Dede Puhlmann, Andrzej Profus + Cash Hauke, Eleonore, Hannah Levy + Johanna Stevens, Sbouti + Juju

A production by Simone Dede Ayivi and Kompliz*innen in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE. Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR. Media partner: Missy Magazine, RosaMag, taz, die tageszeitung.

Simone Dede Ayivi's performances discuss questions of representation, resistance and community. Her works are biographically motivated, mostly interview-based research projects. She explores ways of remembering and rediscovering - and shines a spotlight on political struggles and movements, Black history and the present. Using recorded discussions, interviews and political speeches, she seeks to amplify the voices of marginalized communities. With Afrofuturistic narratives, she creates a space in the theater to ponder, translate and reinvent. A space for utopias. Simone reveals her research methods and the means of theater, allowing the audience to become part of her content-related and aesthetic search process. The construction of images is also addressed and viewing habits are questioned. Together with her Kompliz*innen, she has developed performances in cooperation with the Sophiensaele, the Pavillon Hannover, the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt and the Festival Theaterformen. She has worked as a director at Schauspielhaus Graz, Theater Oberhausen and Deutsches Theater Berlin, among others. In 2022, Simone Dede Ayivi received the Tabori Award from the Fonds Darstellende Künste.