Back to the Present

Following her departure from the Volksbühne in the middle of this year, the premiere on 12 December marks the start of a new chapter under the artistic directorship of Çağla Ilk. In the play, memory, reality TV and the indestructible remnants of past relationships collide with a new present

In 2003, Constanza Macras and her company Dorky Park created the now legendary play *Back to the Present* in the abandoned Jandorf department store in Berlin-Mitte, which subsequently toured worldwide. More than 20 years later, the production is now returning – on a journey into the past and in search of the traces of its own history.

Where do you go when you don’t want to come to terms with either the past or the future? In "Back to the Present", characters find themselves at an audition for a reality show following a break-up. They try to remain utterly original, yet at the same time become archetypes for a mass audience. Fetishised objects from past relationships accumulate like debris beneath a mountain of rubble.

How does one recycle things that never decay: love letters, flags, old props, old ideas? And whilst history is becoming increasingly digital, the play asks what the difference is between storing and remembering.

"Back to the Present" navigates an interstitial space formed by the layers of its own history: costumes, props, programmes, video recordings and disused stage elements encounter the remnants of past relationships – torn cinema tickets, old telephone numbers, love letters and Valentine’s Day cards.

Jill Emerson, the iconic performer from the earlier Dorky Park productions, is back in the production, surrounded by a new ensemble. She has moved on, but returns to where it all began for her: to *Back to the Present*.

Written and performed by: Alexandra Bódi, Emil Bordás, Campbell Caspary, Jill Emerson, WooSang Jeon, Moritz Lucht, Thulani Lord Mgidi, Miki Shoji, Shiori Sumikawa, Steph Quinci

Guest dancers: Antonia Aurin, Carolina Gonzalez, Lujain Mustafa, Špela Remec, Julián Rodriguez, Yeva Trepilets, Paloma Velez Da Porta

Live music: Lars Friedrich, Katrin Schüler-Springorum, Andrej Steinke

Guest video performers: Maike Müller, Tina Streich

Choreography, concept and direction: Constanza Macras

Tickets: HERE

Prices range from 12 to 45 euros