Eternity, The End & Everything that Never Began
About
When the eulogies, funerals, and thoughts & prayers aren’t enough, descendants Kofi and Xo call upon ancestor Shi-Shi for another way to move through “this thing called life.”
Eternity, The End, and Everything that Never Began is a ritual for reimagining death as a way to reimagine life. As an interdisciplinary theatrical workshop, this piece blurs the lines between character, performer, and audience, asking us all to close the gap between dreams and reality.
Production History:
Schauspiel Dortmund (Germany), 2023
Credits:
Creators: Ta-Nia (Talia Paulette Oliveras & Nia Farrell)
Stage Design: Lan Anh Pham
Sound Design: Richard Opoku-Agyemang
Dramaturgy: Viktoria Göke
Lighting Design: Stefan Gimbel
Sound: Robin Lockhardt
Assistant Director: Alina Baranowski
Assistant Stage Design: Constanze Kriester
Stage Management: Monika Gies-Hasmann
Soufflage: Klara Brandi
Featuring: Ruby Commey, Dena Abay, Simon Olubowale
Credits (Short Film):
Created by: Ta-Nia (Talia Paulette Oliveras & Nia Farrell)
Cinematographer & Editor: Alexander Mejía of Bergamot Cin
Featuring: Giesala Jacques, Mariyea, Nia Farrell, Nile Harris, Talia Paulette Oliveras
Photography: Birgit Hupfeld
What People Are Saying…
(loosely translated)
“Perhaps the theater should become a place of worship again, as it was in antiquity. Ta-Nia's performance tries this out in the ancestral rite of passage.
This lives from the warmth and charisma of the actresses, in which Ruby Commey’s smile becomes an event. Big applause.”
— Westphalian Gazette
“The shining star is actress Ruby Commey. (...) Her role allows her everything that can make up a life: from crying fits to fits of laughter to fits of rage and back again — all within three minutes.”
"Dena Abay and Simon Olubowale, in their roles as Kofi and Xo, play those who wrestle with death on and around the throne with a mixture of apathy, clarity and understated humor.”
— Ruhr news
“An unusual evening, an attempt to think of theater in a completely different way than as a real participatory ritual.”
— WDR 5 Scala
