Name: Van Manen/Kylián/Goecke
Start: 2026-06-17T19:30:00
Location: Theater Basel

Lisa Van Cauwenbergh

Sandra Bourdais

Cheng-An Wu

Maurus Gauthier

Ana Paula Camargo

Jamal Uhlmann

Rosario Guerra

Parker Gamble

Lydia Caruso

Eva Blunno

Floris Puts

Elliana Mannella

Chisato Ide

Louis Steinmetz

Nikita Zdravkovic

Filippo Ferrari

David Lagerqvist

Giada Zanotti

Mariana Vieira

Anthony Ramiandrisoa

Carlos Kerr Jr.

Keso Dekker

Joop Caboort

Hans van Manen

Udo Haberland

Marco Goecke

Kees Tjebbes

Joke Visser

Jiří Kylián

Michaela Springer

Theater Basel

Featuring works by Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, and Marco Goecke, this evening brings together three of the most significant styles in dance history and showcases a richly varied array of choreographic styles set to a diverse mix of music ranging from baroque to blues.

Van Manen/Kylián/Goecke

For Adelina, born in Zurich, the daughter of Italian immigrants, there is no place in Switzerland. Inherited debts force her to abandon her apprenticeship. Single and with her young daughter Emma, she searches for a way out of the downward spiral. But the circumstances, a misogynistic and xenophobic society, prevent her from doing so. She finds herself in one awkward situation after another until a man who lovingly cares for her daughter takes her to Italy. However, Emma disappears without a trace, leading to a fateful encounter with the Red Brigades - and a realization.

Die Krume Brot

A group of actors and an author attempt to stage Shakespeare's poem ‹Die Schändung der Lucretia›. They hold auditions for all the roles, analyze the text, reenact the situations, and connect them to their own experiences. As a band, they transform all the anger and pain into music. Sexualized violence is omnipresent and political. Countless stories, songs, films, and images of assault shape our culture. Director Lola Arias bases her play on research and conversations with victims of violence, artists, and philosophers. What images come to mind when we say the word rape? How much silence, fear, and shame do we carry with us? How is sexual violence embedded in our bodies and in society?

The Rape of Lucretia: A Casting

A small town in turmoil. Everyone wants to shoot the wolf themselves. Which wolf? And then there's German chancellor candidate Alice Weidel – does she fit into the townscape of this idyllic pilgrimage site on the Way of St. James? What is actually real? Wolves in sheep's clothing? Queer-hostile queers? Rainbow families with brown attitudes? Of course, this is not a contradiction: in the northern hemisphere, all water vortices and high-pressure areas turn to the right – physics. And how is it in the best democracy in the world? Why do right-wing extremists feel so at home in Switzerland?

The White Madonna of Einsiedeln

Four people, perhaps the very last ones left: Hamm, his servant Clov, and his parents Nell and Nagg. They grapple with power and powerlessness, memory and repression, affection and humiliation, while the world outside falls apart. This standstill lays bare the depths of their relationships, but also reveals absurd humor. A lifelong fascination with Samuel Beckett’s ‹Endspiel› inspired Hungarian composer György Kurtág to write his first opera in 2018. Kurtág’s 100th birthday marks the occasion for the Swiss premiere of his work in Basel, where the composer regularly worked. Today, his estate is preserved here at the Paul Sacher Foundation. In his Basel debut, director David Marton frees the characters from the prison of Beckett’s dark room and transports them into the open air: onto a rooftop terrace in Márton Ágh’s post-apocalyptic urban landscape.

Fin de partie

Delia Mayer, most recently celebrated at Theater Basel in the title role of ‹Lady in the Dark› and as the witch in ‹Into the Woods›, devotes herself to Kreisler's biting and accurate cabaret songs, which form a touching one-woman musical. Lola Blau's life falls apart at the seams: the Jewish actress flees from annexed Austria via Switzerland to the USA, where she keeps her head above water by performing in nightclubs. In search of her former lover, she returns to her native Vienna, where she realises that it is business as usual again.

Heute Abend: Lola Blau

«Twenty captains of industry are flying overhead, while millions are starving below». Kasimir, who lost his job as a chauffeur that morning, watches the Zeppelin fly by with a frown, while Karoline wants to enjoy herself at the Oktoberfest. In 117 scenes, Horváth describes how the couple's love is shattered by social conditions. In Karin Henkel's production, Kasimir and Karoline meet another tragic figure from Horváth's universe: Elisabeth from ‹Glaube Liebe Hoffnung› has given up on life before it could even begin. Her story is based on a real court case that Horváth wrote about together with court reporter Lukas Kristl.

Kasimir and Karoline and the Dance with Death

For a brief evening, it looks as if Laura's life could unfold in all its possibilities. She lives with her mother Amanda Wingfield and her brother Tom in a small flat in St. Louis. Tom's boyfriend Jim comes to dinner and seems to Laura like a prince charming who will fulfil all her longings. But Jim is already engaged and breaks Laura's beloved unicorn, the symbol of her fantasy world, as a parting gift. Tennessee Williams' classic about the disillusionment of a family was first performed in German in Basel in 1946; the new Basel version is staged by English director Jaz Woodcock-Stewart.

Die Glasmenagerie

Berliner Festspiele

When the HORA Theater was founded in Zurich in 1993, a Marthaler production ‹Murx den Europäer!› was premiering at the (Volks-)Bühne in Berlin. Coincidence? Or the famous law of meaningful synchronicity?

Company with special dedication (Limited Liability Company)

Under the direction of Axel Hernandez and Armando Braswell, we will dance a choreography by Muhammed Kaltuk to the song by Eurovision winner Nemo; everyone is welcome to join in. Five workshops (optional) will be offered to help you learn the flash mob choreography. The flash mob will take place simultaneously in various Swiss cities. In cooperation with Reso, the Basel Region Dance Festival, and the Riehen Cultural Office.

Dance Class

Riding a rickety horse, Don Quixote traverses the plains of La Mancha. His boundless imagination transforms windmills into giants, taverns into castles, and a stranger into an immortal lover. Cervantes’ famous novel defies all conventions. Thousands of adaptations have already failed spectacularly in their attempt to retell his story. Theater artist Thom Luz follows in the footsteps of the dreamy knight, crisscrossing through music history all the way to his deathbed. But Don Quixote isn’t ready: fleeing his death scene, he hides within works spanning five centuries. This poetic game of confusion keeps conjuring up new castles in the air, leaving only one question: Who is right—the dreamer or reality?

Don Quijote

The wedding party is divided, the champagne is warm – and just before the ceremony, the wedding boat gets stuck in the middle of Lake Constance. So what to do? Master of Ceremonies Muheim tries to salvage the situation and launches into a speech intended to reconcile not only the guests, but all of humanity. Will he succeed? A show about the contradictions of our time, served up with Muheim's signature wink – satirical, intoxicating, and touching. The winner of the 2024 Salzburg Bull Award gets entangled in his new solo program in the tangle of big questions that make life complicated, yet worth telling.