Will you participate? Will you be manipulated? Will you listen? Will you really listen?
Nassim Soleimanpour was denied a passport in his native Iran because of his status as a conscientious objector. Forbidden to leave Tehran, he wrote a play which travelled the world in his place. Born in 1981, this visionary playwright is an independent multidisciplinary theatre maker whose plays have been translated into many languages and his best known is WHITE RABBIT / RED RABBIT. His work has received many prestigious international awards.
The internationally acclaimed and very unique play WHITE RABBIT / RED RABBIT requires no director, no rehearsals, no set. The stage is bare except for a ladder, a table and a chair. On the table there are two glasses of water and a spoon.
A different actor must play the single role at every performance and is presented with an envelope – on stage and before the audience – containing the script. This is the first time the actor sees the text. The actor knows nothing about the play or what it entails! The audience joins the performer on a journey into the unknown; stumbling upon the “personal and profound, riffing on the limits of liberty and exploring where theatre can take you, with or without a passport.”
Told in the author’s voice and using allegorical animals to make its points about power and society, the play is intense, comic and unnerving. WHITE RABBIT / RED RABBIT is a powerful and audacious theatrical experiment that has been celebrated worldwide as one of the most astonishing evenings in theatre. Through their interaction and collaboration, both audience and actor create a genuinely original piece that defies national boundaries, censorship and is a one time only, one-of-a-kind experience.
The audience joins the performer on a journey into the unknown; stumbling upon the personal and profound, the limits of liberty and ultimately where theatre can take you. Since its joint premiere in 2011, the play has been translated into over 25 different languages and has been performed over 1000 times by some of the biggest names in theatre and film, including actors Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, John Hurt, Simon McBurney, Stephen Fry, Sinead Cusack, Marcus Brigstocke and Ken Loach.
Photos by Uka Meissner deRuiz
WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT was originally produced by Volcano Theatre in association with Necessary Angel and Wolfgang Hoffmann. Dramaturgy by Daniel Brooks and Ross Manson
Author: Nassim Soleimanpou / Producer: Charles C. Urban / Actor: Ashley Remus
PERFORMANCE: May 6 at 20:00 hrs in MERLIN
MERLIN is located at Augustenstraße 72, 70178 Stuttgart
TICKETS: https://loveyourartist.com/de/events/dark-monday-white-rabbit-stuttgart-NCGOS5
In cooperation with: DAZ – Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum – https://daz.org/, Staatministerin für Kultur und Medien, Kulturverein Merlin e.V.erlin e.V.
New English American Theater Stuttgart 