Befehl von ganz unten

Tiny desk performance · Text: Özlem Özgül Dündar · In a version and with texts by the collective Ernte Olafson and accomplices · In German

«Calm down. I’m here now.»

Mother Joan — Saint Joan of the Stockyards, Jeanne d’Arc, Joan of Orleans — has stepped out of the pages of Bertolt Brecht’s book, ready to save the animals, the world, everything. But from what, exactly?

Decidedly diverse in their glam-punk attitude, three performers take on Özlem Özgül Dündar’s reinterpretation of Bertolt Brecht’s Saint Joan of the Stockyards. In the intimacy of a tiny desk performance they summon Saint Joan, the martyr – only she can save the animals and the rest of the world tonight. And so she climbs out of the letters of the book onto the boards of the stage. Musically she raises her blades, answers the cattle’s lament with songs of her own and ever new short stories, and leads the fight against exploitation.

Tickets: eventfrog.ch/befehlvonganzunten

Credits

In alphabetical order:
Allyship & production management (administrative): Maude Hélène Vuilleumier
Set & performance & video: Mariana Vieira Grünig (as Joan)
Dramaturgical support: Dominik Wolfinger
Direction & performance (development) & video: Sabrina Tannen
Music & performance & video: Dorothea Mildenberger (as Joan)
Outside eye: Yunus Ersoy
Performance: Johanna Dähler (as Joan)
Production assistant: Muriel Bosshard
Production management Patchwork Produktion: Christopher Kriese
Lighting support: Mikki Levy-Strasser
Sound support: Yannik Sandhofer
Video setup & video: Yannik Böhmer

Thanks go out to: Bertolt Brecht (also Brecht), Micha Bietenhader, Citytrans, Deichkind, Doechii, Samuel Eberenz, Susanne Ehrenbaum, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman, Irina Mafli, Robert Mayer and Peter Meier (of the Neumarkt), Maike Müller, Ramón Oliveras, Julia Reichert, Janna Rottmann, Matthias Scherler (the guy with the Brecht glasses), Resti Schlüsselbund, Monika Troung, friendly Uber and Bolt drivers, Leila Vidal-Sephiha, Carmen Weirich, Robbie Williams, Martin Wigger (of the Neumarkt), Johanna Zielinski, lots of crisps and extra sausages.

Thanks to everyone involved in the research phase: Katja Brunner, Annabelle Ehmann, Daniel Hellmann (Soya the Cow), Philippe Heule, Sabrina Hofer, Kian Amadeus Horst, Maximilian Kranich, Christian Mächler, Ueli Mäder, Schlachtbetrieb Zürich AG, the team of Strobo Futures, Martin Wigger and the team of Kulturhaus Helferei, Cornelia Zierhofer and everyone else we were in exchange with.

A production by Ernte Olafson | Patchwork Produktion · Overall project management: Sabrina Tannen | Yannik Böhmer · Supported by Stadt Zürich Kultur and Ernst Göhner Stiftung

Photo: © Leni O.