Der Teich

Vienne delves deep into the boy’s mind, blurring the lines between monologue and dialogue, and shows how the self dissolves in an emotional whirlwind.

Together with the exceptional actresses Adèle Haenel and Julie Shanahan, and eight puppets, the theatre artist Gisèle Vienne creates a psychoactive chamber play about the power dynamics within a family.

Lighting designer Yves Godin and the musicians Stephen O’Malley – frontman of the legendary doom metal band Sunn O))) – and François Bonnet have created a trance-like environment of light and sound for Vienne’s play. *The Pond* is a choreography of human abysses and a thrilling journey.

Since 1999, Gisèle Vienne has been exploring socially taboo subjects in her choreographic and theatrical works. Her production *Kindertotenlieder* and the ‘party-in-slow-motion’ choreography *CROWD* have been stylistically influential in recent dance history. In 2024, exhibitions at the Haus am Waldsee and the Georg Kolbe Museum showcased the disturbingly lifelike puppets characteristic of Vienne’s work.

Now, the Franco-Austrian performing artist – who studied philosophy, music and puppetry – is presenting her groundbreaking work based on the literary text *Der Teich* in Berlin for the first time, following a worldwide tour.