Oratorio – A Collective Devotion to a Well-Kept Secret

Nothing is as fundamental to society and communal life, nothing has such a divisive effect on the community as property.

With “Oratorium,” She She Pop aims to unveil the mystery of property, to drag it onto the stage.

It is said that Western-style theater began with the protagonist Thespis, who stood before the chorus 2,500 years ago. But one could also say: At that moment, the stage was privatized. Since then, the individual has been consistently overvalued, overburdened, and emotionally exploited.

“Oratorium” aims to shed light on the connection between civic public sphere, property, and democratic empowerment.

Together with the chorus of local delegates and their respective audiences, She She Pop will discuss property and examine their own ownership structures, the distribution of goods, and the associated inequalities. Inspired by Brecht’s didactic play theory, they develop rules for the dialogic theater evening and form discordant chants that renegotiate our approach to property anew each night.

Who is allowed to speak? Who is present, who is represented? From the polyphony, the discord, and the harmony that can only ever be achieved for fleeting moments, a collective monologue emerges.

“Oratorium” is a work-in-progress that premiered in 2018 at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin. A first showing took place in 2017 at Theaterformen in Hanover, followed by further performances at the Konfrontacje Teatralne Festival in Lublin and the ACT Independent Theater Festival in Sofia.

“Oratorium” embarked on a journey through Europe, during which it collected snapshots from other economic microcosms and evolved from stop to stop into a grand, polyphonic devotional.

In 2019, She She Pop was invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen with “Oratorium.” The jury’s statement reads: “You don’t talk about money. The performance collective She She Pop doesn’t care and makes private property, inequality, and shame the subject of their work. ... She She Pop transforms the audience into a polyphonic choir. As always with She She Pop, the political is embedded in the private, in the biographical material.”

IN GERMAN