‘'Not here not now' 

David

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THE VILLAGE 

[an opera through space and time] 

Joel Mandelbaum / Susan Fox

Musical Director: Alexander Mottok

Director: Agnes Oberauer

Stage Design: Julia B. Nowikowa

Producer: Dirk Schattner 

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Due to the pandemic and resulting scheduling conflicts, the final part of the project could not be realized to completion under my direction. However, the following two parts of the project were created and realized by me:  

 

SEARCHING FOR MAMAN 

[an performance experience through space and time in the entire city of Hamburg]

November 2021, Hamburg 

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November 1942: Two Strangers arrive in a small French village. Maman and her son David. David will stay in the village. But Maman never returns. All that is left, are her letters. 

The trains move East. Still East. 

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But who is Maman? She has disappeared. Just like many others whose lives were wiped out during the Holocaust. Traces of the many lives lost as the trains continue to move East. 

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The 15th of November 2020: 

65 people embark on 65 journeys through the city of Hamburg. In their hands: A suitcase full of letters. Together and alone. Audience and Performer in one. The starting point of their journey is one of Hamburg's many train stations. The end-point: The school at Bullenhuser Damm. 

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By going on this lonely journey, each participant contributed to the creation of something greater than its parts: A first attempt at the creation of a village, a remembering of the 20 children murdered at the site of the school, and a homage to the millions of people transported across Europe into the concentration camps of the Nazis. 

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What is left?

An installation of empty suitcases. Left behind by those who have passed. 

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In the meantime, Maman´s ghost is among us. Leaving behind traces in the labyrinth of Hamburg´s underground train stations. 

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Find out more about Searching for Maman here.

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