Hotel Utopia
An interactive parlor game about
borders, bureaucracy and the value of passports
by Christiane Mudra
WORLD PREMIEREAchtung 3 Anfangszeiten: 19:00/19:20/19:40h |
“The passport is the noblest part of a human being. It doesn’t come into existence as easily as a human does. (...) That’s why it is recognized when it’s good, whereas a human can be ever so good and still not be recognized.” Bertolt Brecht, Refugee Conversations, 1940/41
The “Asylum Compromise” at the EU’s external borders marks the most significant tightening of asylum law in 30 years and once again illustrates the “sorting machines” in front of “fortress Europe.” Since the start of the war in Ukraine, a debate has erupted in Germany over the unequal treatment of refugees, particularly concerning third-country nationals fleeing from Ukraine. In addition, the EU citizenships purchased by various oligarchs, the so-called “golden passports”, have once again come under scrutiny. On the other hand, a child born in Germany to stateless parents remains stateless even today.
In Hotel Utopia, director Christiane Mudra and the ensemble invite participants to shift their perspective. Equipped with passports from different countries and data based on real biographies, the audience embarks on a kafkaesque journey through a transit space in search of recognition in a new country, confronting the challenges of Germany’s welcome culture (Willkommenskultur).
First-hand accounts from refugees and migrants, as well as background conversations with experts, are interwoven throughout the evening alongside information about dysfunctional processes, overburdened caseworkers, arbitrariness in admission programs and smart borders. The performance addresses statelessness and multiple citizenships, lack of transparency, need for structural reform, along with the consequences of dubious “repatriation deals,” unsanctioned pushbacks at the EU’s borders, and deeply rooted colonial patterns.
We proceed from the legal fiction of non-entry.
On their individual journey through waiting areas and government offices, participants are confronted with incomprehensible regulations, controls, uncertainty and powerlessness. They encounter true stories of flight and migration, prejudice and arbitrariness, and experience individual (un)freedom depending on nationality, geopolitical conditions, or ranking in the “passport index.”
Following SELFIE & ICH, an evening about mental illness, achievement-driven society, and the tyranny of happiness, which took place in private apartments in Munich’s Haidhausen district, Hotel Utopia is the second part of a trilogy that examines the de facto valuation of human beings in the so-called “community of values.”
The failure to evacuate local Afghan forces and human rights activists in the summer of 2021 starkly exposed the value of a passport, something that, in extreme cases, can decide between life and death. This was further demonstrated by the illegal pushbacks at the external borders of Europe, which, for example, came to a head in incidents involving the Greek coastguard and Frontex in the Mediterranean.
Even within Germany, people without a German passport regularly face contradictory procedures. For example, many individuals born in Germany who hold Turkish passports risk losing their residence permits if they remain outside the country for more than six months. In the case of Murat Kurnaz, a man from Bremen who was innocently interned in Guantánamo, he was denied entry into Germany despite a corresponding offer from the U.S. government, so that he had to spend a total of over five years in the internment camp at Guantánamo Bay. The German government's argument was that Kurnaz had failed to submit the necessary application in time.
As of 2023, German citizens enjoy visa-free access to 190 countries. In contrast, the divide between the Global North and the Global South continues to grow. Citizens of countries like Angola, Cameroon, and Laos can travel visa-free to only around 50 nations. Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghan passports rank among the lowest in the global passport index, offering access to just 27 to 30 countries without a visa.
In light of climate change, the unequal distribution of economic resources and the large number of armed conflicts, a significant rise in global migration is anticipated in the coming decades.
Against this backdrop, HOTEL UTOPIA will examine the value of passports and thus ultimately of people of different nationalities within the 'EU community of values', particularly in Germany.
Presse
"Mudra is a tireless investigative deep driller."
Sabine Leucht, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, NOVEMBER 7, 2023
“Hotel Utopia puts the audience vividly in the position of migrants and is an immersive exercise in empathy and solidarity.”
Michael Stadler, ABENDZEITUNG, NOVEMBER 7, 2023
"The play becomes unbearable when 'Ode to Joy' blares through the building’s loudspeakers. A musical celebration whose solemnity feels downright repulsive in this setting, and could not be more oppressive. (...)
But it is precisely this repulsiveness that draws you into the piece. And it is what makes the production by Christiane Mudra and her team so powerful and striking. Because the temporary foreigners feel every minute that behind the evening’s absurdity lie real lives and real fates. When they exchange their fictional passport for their real one at the exit, the questions will likely stay with them for a long time."
Anna Biselli, NETZPOLITIK, December 1, 2023
"A sense of overwhelm and hopelessness sets in, even if, for us, it's just a game. (...) One thing becomes painfully clear: you'd better get lucky in the lottery of nationality."
Christiane Wechselberger, MÜNCHNER FEUILLETON, NOVEMBER 10, 2023
"Investigative theater maker Christiane Mudra has found the presumably perfect location for the Berlin premiere (...): The recently renovated, monumental stairwell at the former Tempelhof Airport.
A sophisticated data system ensures that those at the top, on the sixth floor, know what those at the bottom have certified. If something is missing, they can't go any further. Then it's back to queuing, waiting and explaining what you want again."
Janis El-Bira, NACHTKRITIK, November 30, 2023
"In September, Mudra presented 'Selfie & Ich' in four apartments in Neukölln, a smart evening of theatre about mental illness and the achievement-driven society. (...)
This time as well, she has come up with an unusual format. In an interactive game, the audience experiences their own border situations (...)
The new performance simulates bureaucratic procedures and presents individual life stories. It also questions the global distribution of resources, the construct of the nation and the history of the passport as one of inclusion and exclusion."
Sandra Luzina, TAGESSPIEGEL, SPIELZEIT, NOVEMBER 2023
“Mudra’s productions are always based on extensive research. That, combined with the immense organizational effort, original locations, and processes worked out with technical and temporal precision, is what characterizes her stagings. (...)
Faced with countless forms, bureaucratic language, and incomprehensible regulations, it is impossible to escape the feeling of powerlessness and overwhelm.
Once again, director Christiane Mudra demands a great deal from her audience on this evening in the transit spaces of the old airport. A place that could hardly be more fitting for engaging with borders, bureaucracy, and citizenship — and with the question of what a passport, and the person behind it, is worth.”
Amelie Sittenauer, TAZ, December 2, 2023
„Mudra ist eine unermüdliche investigative Tiefenbohrerin.“
Sabine Leucht, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 7. NOVEMBER 2023
“Hotel Utopia versetzt das Publikum eindringlich in die Lage von Migrantinnen und Migranten, ist eine mit aller immersiver Kraft vorangetriebene Einübung in Empathie und Solidarität."
Michael Stadler, ABENDZEITUNG, 7. NOVEMBER 2023
„Im September zeigte Mudra in vier Wohnungen in Neukölln „Selfie & Ich“, einen klugen Theaterabend über psychische Erkrankungen und die Leistungsgesellschaft. (...)
Auch diesmal hat sie sich wieder ein ungewöhnliches Format einfallen lassen. In einem interaktiven Spiel machen die Zuschauer:innen ihre eigenen Grenzerfahrungen (...)
Die neue Performance simuliert behördliche Vorgänge und zeigt Einzelschicksale. Sie hinterfragt aber auch die globale Verteilung von Ressourcen, das Konstrukt der Nation und die Geschichte des Passes als eine von Inklusion und Exklusion.“
Sandra Luzina, TAGESSPIEGEL, SPIELZEIT, NOVEMBER 2023
"Überforderung und Hoffnungslosigkeit machen sich breit, auch wenn es für uns nur ein Spiel ist. (...) dass man im Nationalitätenlotto Glück haben sollte, das wird überdeutlich."
Christiane Wechselberger, MÜNCHNER FEUILLETON, 10. NOVEMBER 2023
"die Investigativ-Theatermacherin Christiane Mudra hat für die Berliner Premiere (...) den mutmaßlich perfekten Ort gefunden: In ein jüngst saniertes, monumentales Treppenhaus des ehemaligen Flughafens Tempelhof ist ihr "interaktives Gesellschaftsspiel über Grenzen, Bürokratie und den Wert von Pässen" eingezogen.
Ein ausgeklügeltes Datensystem sorgt dafür, dass die ganz oben, im sechsten Stock, wissen, was die ganz unten bescheinigt haben. Fehlt etwas, geht's nicht weiter. Dann heißt es wieder: Schlangestehen, warten und erneut erklären, was man will."
Janis El-Bira, NACHTKRITIK, 30. NOVEMBER 2023
"Immer basieren die Arbeiten auf extensiver Recherche. Das zusammen mit dem immensen organisatorischen Aufwand, originellen Schauplätzen, technisch und zeitlich minutiös ausgearbeiteten Abläufen zeichnen die Inszenierungen Mudras aus. (...) angesichts der zahllosen Formulare, der Beamtensprache und der unverständlichen Regelungen kann man der Ohnmacht und Überforderung gar nicht entkommen.
Einmal mehr verlangt Regisseurin Christiane Mudra ihrem Publikum einiges ab an diesem Abend in den Transiträumen des alten Flughafens. Ein Ort, der kaum besser passen könnte, um sich mit Grenzen, Bürokratie und Staatsangehörigkeit auseinanderzusetzen – und der Frage, was ein Pass und der Mensch dahinter wert ist."
Amelie Sittenauer, TAZ, 2. Dezember 2023
"Unerträglich wird das Stück, wo aus den Lautsprechern „Freude, schöner Götterfunken“ durchs Gebäude hallt. Vertonte, an diesem Ort geradezu abstoßende Feierlichkeit, die bedrückender nicht sein könnte. (...)
Doch gerade das Abstoßende zieht einen in das Stück hinein. Und es macht die Inszenierung von Christiane Mudra und ihrem Team so stark und eindrücklich. Denn dass hinter der Absurdität des Abends reale Schicksale stecken, merken die Ausländer:innen auf Zeit in jeder Minute. Wenn sie am Ausgang ihren fiktiven Pass wieder gegen den eigenen eintauschen, werden sie die Fragen wohl noch länger beschäftigen."
Anna Biselli, NETZPOLITIK, 1. Dezember 2023
Credits
Concept, research, text and direction:
Christiane Mudra
With
Meriam Abbas
Sebastian Gerasch
Gabriele Graf
Melda Hazırcı
Ariella Hirshfeld
Richard Manualpillai
Waki Meier
System architecture and game design: Markus Schubert
Costume/passports: Sarah Silbermann
Stage/props: Julia Kopa
Lighting design and technical direction: Peer Quednau
Video/Flyer/Poster: Yavuz Narin
Production: ehrliche arbeit - freies Kulturbüro
Assistant director: Andre Alkapon
PR: Kathrin Schäfer Kultur PR
Social Media: Casey Tower
Production assistance: Ulrich Zentner
Graphics program booklet: Jara López Ballonga
Photos: Verena Kathrein
A production by Christiane Mudra / investigative theater
funded by the multi-year funding program of the City of Munich.
The Berlin premiere in cooperation with Ballhaus Ost is funded by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
