Around 40 productions await you this year on the Landiwiese and in our other venues at

Werft and Rote Fabrik. As usual, our visiting companies come from within and way beyond

the Schengen Area and comprise dance, theatre, performance artists and musicians who

tackle today’s world with zest, courage and often with defi ance.

A central topic is that of the power structures which artists have to face. They fi ght against

stagnation and taboos and struggle with the progression of fundamentalist ideologies. They

perform close to — and at times even within — the audience, working with fantasy and with

minimal means. Many of them use humour as an antidote to the powerlessness in the face of

political and commercial constraints.

Theatre

In the second part of his Europe Trilogy Milo Rau again takes personal destinies as his theme.

Based on the biographies of the participating actors, «The Dark Ages», devised at the Resi-

denztheater München, delivers a harrowing exhibition of the last seventy years of European

history, focussing in particular on the devastating outcome of the Balkan confl ict. An impres-

sive, quiet and touching event set to the soundtrack of Slovenia’s cult band Laibach.

| WERFT 6 — 9 August

The young anarchic theater company La Re-sentida from Santiago de Chile dares to question

offi cial history. In «La imaginación del futuro» the sacrosanct, heroic fi gure of Salvador

Allende is dismantled with wit and energy: a scathing deconstruction of the myths created

around this politician. | WERFT 14 — 17 August

Amir Reza Koohestani presents «Hearing» as a European premiere. A merciless interviewer

sits in the audience: Who was the man whose voice was heard in the women’s dormitory?

This gripping whodunnit performed by an outstanding female cast turns the spotlight on Iran’s

everyday life. | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | ROTE FABRIK, AKTIONSHALLE 19 — 21 August

They dance Bharanatyam and listen to hip hop: the everyday life of young Tamils caught

between familiar tradition and Western culture is the focus of «The Camoufl age Project».

The young director Ute Sengebusch and the company Firma für Zwischenbereiche have

developed this docu-theatre piece together with two Swiss-based Tamil students.

| PREMIERE | SÜD 10 — 12 August

Programme PreviewProgramme Preview

The house of a child burns down. This is the starting point of «Employee of the Year» by the

New York-based company 600 HIGHWAYMEN specialised in working with amateur actors.

Five girls under the age of eleven narrate the life of a woman. In a rigorously staged and

choreo graphed performance they let the audience take part in an intimate investigation of

the transformations the woman undergoes in the course of her life. | SÜD 17+18 August

At long last the French director Gisèle Vienne, a specialist in the mysterious and the threat-

ening, has come to Zurich. «Das Bauchrednertreffen» is an imagined reconstruction of the

International Ventriloquist Convention in Kentucky, which she has devised with the Puppen-theater Halle based on a text by the American author Dennis Cooper. A staged concert for

27 voices, which menacingly entangles the conscious and the unconscious.

| NORD 21 — 23 August

We have three special treats for children and families in store: The Zurich kid’s rock band

Schtärneföifi celebrates its 20th anniversary with a theatre show premièring at the festival.

«Im Märlisalat» features the fabulous actresses Fabienne Hadorn and Rahel Hubacher and

is directed by Meret Matter. | PREMIERE | SÜD 14 — 16 August

We equally look forward to «Dingdonggrüezi», the delightful housebuilding show by

Theater Sgaramusch, one of Switzerland’s most influential children’s theatre group.

| LIDO 8/9/19/23 August

In the foyer of the Werft the Dutch artist Judith Nab sets up her enchanting video installation

«Mein Haus, der Rest der Welt und mehr». It takes children and adults on a fantastic tour

through the universe, to the bowels of the earth and to the depths of the ocean. The work is

based on ideas, visions and images by children, scientists and researchers, whom Judith Nab

invited to ponder on how the world is and how it could be. | WERFT FOYER 7 — 22 August

Dance & Performance

As with all budding dancers Mamela Nyamza and Nelisiwe Xaba once dreamt of becoming

tutu-wearing ballerinas. In «The Last Attitude» the two South African choreographers target

ballet, one of the last bastions of white elitist culture, with astuteness and wit.

| EUROPEAN PREMIERE | NORD | 6 — 8 August

Another reinterpreation of a classical dance form is presented on the lakeside stage by

Rocío Molina, one of the most outstanding European flamenco dancers. Supported by

musician and singer Rosario «La Tremendita» she demonstrates in «Afectos» how modern

flamenco can be. | SEEBÜHNE 12 — 14 August

Sometimes, dance and politics can get very close to each other, as for example in «We Love Arabs» by Hillel Kogan, a brilliant and scathing tour de force through Israeli-Palestinian

sensitivities. Without fear of gaffes but with great humour, Kogan puts national and religious

identities, clichés and prejudices under the spotlight. | SÜD 7 + 8 August

«Uni * Form» — an appropriate title for a piece on the police. The latest project by choreo-

grapher Simone Aughterlony and film maker Jorge León has a cast of outstanding dancers

from all over Europe put on a uniform and engage in a cunning game on law and order.

| PREMIERE | WERFT 20 — 22 August

The conflict between teenagers of the Muslim and Christian communities in Jailolo, the capital

of the beautifully-situated Indonesian province North Maluku, had been rapidly increasing.

In 2012 the mayor called upon the Indonesian star choreographer Eko Supriyanto for help.

The initiative resulted in a dance festival in which around 300 young people have since been

participating each year. Supriyanto has developed «Cry Jailolo» with seven of these young-

sters. This beautiful and modern interpretation of traditional dances is a tribute to the endan-

gered coral reefs of Jailolo Bay. | EUROPEAN PREMIERE in collaboration with Sommerfestival

Kampnagel Hamburg and Nooderzon Festival Groningen | SEEBÜHNE 19 — 21 August

A more urban affair is «Suave» by the Brazilian choreographer Alice Ripoll and her ten young

dancers. Passinho is the latest trend of Rio de Janeiro’s lively street dance scene. «One life,

one chance», reads the tattoo of one of the dancers. And that’s exactly how they dance the

passinho: as if their lives were at stake. | EUROPEAN PREMIERE in collaboration with Sommer-

festival Kampnagel Hamburg and Nooderzon Festival Groningen | SÜD 20 — 23 August

If there were a prize for the most outlandish dance style of recent years, the Cape Verdean

choreographer Marlene Monteiros Freitas would be a hot contender for it. In «De marfim e carne — as estátuas também sofrem» (Of ivory and flesh — statues also suffer) she cele-

brates the grotesque: a superb ball — with dancing statues. | NORD 10 + 11 August

The Philippine performer Eisa Jocson has proven herself to be an outstanding and highly

intelligent performer with the Short Pieces that she performed at two previous festivals.

Now she shows the third part of her trilogy on the Philippine entertainment industry.

«Host» focusses on the Philippine women who work as geishas in Japanese clubs.

| ROTE FABRIK, FABRIKTHEATER 6 — 9 August

After his well-received «Marrabenta Solos», the Mozambican dancer and choreographer

Panaibra Gabriel Canda returns to the festival with the premiere of «(Un)official Language».

Together with the Portuguese jazz singer Maria João he investigates the discrepancy between

the language one feels in and the language one thinks in. | PREMIERE | ROTE FABRIK, AKTIONS­

HALLE 8 — 10 August

Contemporary Circus & Music Performance

The Dakh Daughters from Kiev perform «Hot Songs from Love & Hate» in five different

languages. A musical roller coaster of delicate chansons and wild punk songs — sung, whistled

and belted out by seven fantastic actresses of the Dakh Theatre, Ukraine’s biggest indepen-

dent theatre company. | SEEBÜHNE 6 — 8 August

The work of the CocoRosie singer Bianca Casady has similar theatrical and political under-

tones, but with a surreal and dreamy slant. For her musical performance she is supported by

a group of long-time partners, including the butoh dancer Biño Sauitzvy and the expressive

video artist Jean Marc Ruellan. | SEEBÜHNE 10 August

Convincing forms of contemporary clownery are rare but the following two productions suc-

ceed effortlessly: Cirque Trottola and Petit Théâtre Baraque have created «Matamore»,

a refreshing variety bill with five clown-like figures. Full of poetry and frenzy they squabble and

fool around the circus arena making us forget if we are responding with tears of joy or pain.

| CHAPITEAU TROTTOLA 8 — 22 August

Martin Zimmermann now works as a soloist, not out of necessity, but for sheer pleasure.

In his solo «Hallo» he tries to defy the hardships of life. All on his own, or at least almost.

He has again created a wondrously animated set, in which trapdoors and other pitfalls turn

out to be cunning opponents. | NORD 14 — 19 August

Compagnie 7273 has made a name for itself with their flowing dance style FuittFuitt in recent

years. With «Beyrouth 1995» the company founders Laurence Yadi and Nicolas Cantillon go

back to where their love started: during a night in Beirut, full of dance and music. The live

music by Maqam virtuosi Adel Dedgaichia and Amar Toumi merges with the choreography to

become a celebration of love and life. | SEEBÜHNE 22 August

Short Pieces

Be it male veil-dancing from Lebanon, a furious monologue on rape in India, Ukrainian magic

spells to help find a man from the west or the pitfalls of the English language in South Korea —

eight young theatre and dance performers from Africa, Asia, India, Eastern Europe and Canada

will transform the Rote Fabrik into an exciting, playful artistic universe with their short pieces

and works in progress. Artists on showcase are: Cie. Désir Collectif from Burkina Faso,

Ja Ha Koo from South Korea, Dana Michel from Canada, Viktoriya Myronyuk from Ukraine,

Alexandre Paulikevitch from Lebanon, Venuri Perera from Sri Lanka, Choy Ka Fai & Rianto

from Singapore and Indonesia and Mallika Taneja from India. | PREMIERES | ROTE FABRIK

13 — 15 August

Concerts

The singer Aziza Brahim from Western Sahara is conquering Europe. Equipped with a powerful

and warm voice and political commitment and supported by an outstanding band she has

everything it takes to give us an unforgettable evening on the lakeside stage. | SEEBÜHNE

9 August | Another brilliant voice is that of Gisela João, the up-and-coming star of modern

fado in Portugal. | SEEBÜHNE 15 August | Further musical highlights are set by Otto Lechner & Wiener Ziehharmoniker and Oloid, the latest project by Christian Zehnder and Gregor

Hilbe, who will perform together with the Pygmy overtone singers Ndima. | SEEBÜHNE 16 and

17 August

In the Lido you can dance to urban cumbia by La Dame Blanche from Cuba or to rap funk by

the Canadian multi-talent Socalled. Matto Kämpf & Gerhard Meister will muse on the brain

in their spoken word show «Hirni». Fitzgerald & Rimini from Bern, recently awarded with

the acknowledgement prize for literature from the Canton of Bern, present their wonderful

mini audio dramas. Finally, the brass band La Fanfare en Pétard will bring the festival 2015

to a spectacular conclusion. | LIDO 7 — 23 August

All information is subject to change

The complete programme including all concerts and open-air events, performances on the Zentral

stage and further information on the festival is published on Friday 3 July on our website.

Programme & Box Office 2015

Programme brochure MON 6 July as supplement of the Tages-Anzeiger, subsequently

on sale at major newsagents for CHF 3

Beginning of advance sale WED 8 July, 8:00 hrs

Tickets www.theaterspektakel.ch and www.starticket.ch

Join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/theaterspektakel

Contact

Festival officeZürcher Theater Spektakel

Stadthausquai 17 | 8001 Zurich

Phone +41 | 044 412 35 51

contact@theaterspektakel.ch

Press officePhone +41 | 044 412 35 51

presse@theaterspektakel.ch