Abhishek Thapar: Soft Pressure (Working Title) – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Abhishek Thapar: Soft Pressure (Working Title)
We enter a massage studio. Ritual, scent, and gentle hospitality promise a sense of well-being. On the massage table, familiar, professional and soothing touches carry us away…
Soft Pressure (Working Title) is a new work by the theater maker and performer Abhishek Thapar about working conditions in the wellness industry. Based on a research phase of three weeks in massage salons in Berlin and through interviews, Thapar investigates the infrastructure of invisible labor. Shaped by migration and colonial conditions these structures determine who serves and who relaxes. Soft Pressure (Working Title) ultimately brings the stories of wellness workers to life in an immersive installationand asks at what cost we achieve our relaxation.
Thapar develops research-based performance projects with people who take part with their daily life activities, profession or expertise.
Some time slots include a one-on-one encounter with a performer and may involve physical proximity or contact. For more information, contact barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or call +49 (0)30 278 900-35.
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.
Artistic diretion: Abhishek Thapar
Creative producer: Job Rietvelt
Research: Marie Vassan
Dramaturgical support: Maria Rößler
Design: Himashi Parmar
A production by Abhishek Thapar in co-production with Sophiensæle and Theatre Groningen Development Trajectory (NL). Supported by Culture Moves Europe, a project of the European Union, implemented by the Goethe Institut. With the kind support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and with support by Kunstloc Brabant, Culture Action Europe and CultureAndHealth—co-funded by the European Union. Never Work—International Performance Festival is a festival by Sophiensæle, supported by the Capital Cultural Fund (HKF). Sophiensæle is supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.
Abhishek Thapar (Director and Performer, Moga/India and Amsterdam/Netherlands) first studied business and then decided to turn his passion into a profession. He holds a Diploma in Physical Theatre from the London International School of Performing Arts and a Master in Theatre from DAS Theatre, Amsterdam. His performance My home at the Intersection was invited to the Zürcher Theaterspektakel and Spielart München, his new piece Cow is a Cow is a Cow was shown at the Ruhrfestspiele and the Aua wir Leben Festival in Bern. In the summer of 2021 he was artist-in-residence at Kampnagel. For several years he has been developing an artistic research and practice based on postcolonial epistemologies, historical metafiction and storytelling.