The theory of the six degrees of separation argues that anyone on Earth is six or fewer steps away from any other person. Thirty stories, large or small, unusual or common, philosophical, scientific or anecdotal, which at a first glance have little or nothing in common. BERLIN talked to the people behind these stories, and collected them in the form of filmed monologues, assembled around a huge round table, which could be a boat adrift or a spaceship. The public is invited to a tête-à-tête with these characters. Founded ten years ago by Bart Baele and Yves Degryse, BERLIN has built an impressive work with shows and installations in which all technical means are possible, in an area of permanent conflict between documentary and fiction.
BERLIN
The starting point for each of BERLIN’s shows is a city or region somewhere on the planet. They work from the documentary and the trans-disciplinary. Focusing on a specific research question, they involve different media depending on the content of the project. They began the series on the Holocene (the current geological era) with the performances Jerusalem, Iqaluit, Bonanza and Moscow. A few years later, BERLIN began a new cycle: Horror Vacui (fear of the empty) of which Tagfish and Land’s End are the first two episodes. BERLIN is currently working on new performances in both cycles.
Cast & crew
Concept: BERLIN (Bart Baele and Yves Degryse) | Soundtrack and mixes: Peter Van Laerhoven | Text: Kirsten Roosendaal, Yves Degryse, Bart Baele | Camera: Geert De Vleesschauwer | Set design: BERLIN, Manu Siebens | Technical direction: Robrecht Ghesquière | Production and communication: Laura Fierens | Managing Director: Kurt Lannoye | Production: BERLIN | Co-production: Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg [DE], KunstenfestivaldesArts [Brussels, BE], le CENTQUATRE [Paris, FR], Dublin Theatre Festival [Dublin, IE], Centrale Fies [Dro, IT], Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival [Groningen, NL] , La Bâtie – Festival of Genève [Genève, CH], Zomer van Antwerpen [BE] | Project co-produced by NXTSTP, with the support of the European Union’s Culture Program and ONDA – Office national de diffusion artistique. BERLIN is an associate artist of CENTQUATRE – Paris [FR] with the support of the Flemish Government | Translation: Xiana Lado and Eva García. Facultade de Filoloxía e Traducción. Universidade de Vigo.
Première
2014, CentQuatre-Paris, France.