Solidarity contribution round: dance theater WG Neumann
26 Nov
How can we fund independent art without creating precarious conditions? Laura Heinecke and Company are presenting their play WG Neumann at Hamburg’s Sprechwerk. The performance will be followed by a collective contribution round: Instead of buying tickets, everyone in attendance will contribute to cover the outstanding production costs in a spirit of solidarity, similar to a community-supported agriculture program.
What you can expect
The arts are suffering from constant budget cuts, and at the same time, ticket prices are becoming too expensive for many people. With the production WG Neumann, Laura Heinecke & Company is taking a different approach. It combines contemporary dance with a community-driven organizational model.
After the performance, Laura Heinecke and Charlotte von Wulffen will lead a discussion together. The ensemble will lay all the numbers on the table: What grants were received, what production costs were incurred, and how much is still needed to ensure fair compensation? Afterward, everyone in attendance will decide for themselves how much they can and want to contribute. Those with greater financial flexibility will make up the difference for those who can’t contribute much at the moment. In this way, we support the performance together as a community.
More about the play
As traditional gender roles are gaining prominence once again, WG Neumann turns its attention to what often remains invisible: the fragile, contradictory inner world of men. In its new production, Laura Heinecke & Company explores contemporary masculinity beyond clichés and certainties.
In WG Neumann, the living room is rearranged, the right outfit is sought out, and—along the way—it becomes clear just how complex one’s own identity can be. With elegance, shyness, and courage, the most diverse facets of human and masculine inner worlds come to light. Rarely are questions of masculinity explored from such a humorous and intimate perspective. Through the man-to-man relationship—which consistently retains its mystery—vulnerable and touching sides emerge, opening up a space for the audience to experience empathy, recognition, and new perspectives.
Duration: approx. 100 min (including contribution round)
Dance performance by Laura Heinecke & Company
- Artistic Director: Laura Heinecke
- Dance and Choreography: Uwe Brauns & Anibal dos Santos
- Set and Costume Design: Domitile Guinchard
- Set and Lighting Design: Ralf Grüneberg
- Musical Director: Nicolas Schulze
- Production Manager: Frauke Niemann
- Assistant Director: Tanja Wehling
- Photo: Marc Doradzillo
Funded by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, the State Capital of Potsdam, and with funding from the Ministry of Science, Research, and Art of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
With support from fabrik Potsdam, Tanztendenz München e.V., the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania through a working grant from Künstlerhaus LUKAS, as well as from the trinational residency program Labor à trois organized by POLE-SUD CDCN Strasbourg, ROXY Birsfelden, and Tanznetz Freiburg in cooperation with E-WERK Freiburg, funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation as part of Nouveaux horizons.
Reserve a ticket
Here’s how it works: Come—with or without a reservation—to the performance on November 25 or 26 at Sprechwerk Hamburg, bring cash, watch the play, and then take part in the contribution round afterward.
During the contribution round, we make our finances transparent: we list costs, grants, and the remaining shortfall, and everyone contributes exactly the amount that feels right to them and that collectively covers the costs of this performance. This takes place in 1–2 rounds and lasts about 30 minutes. The contribution round is factored into the overall duration of the evening.
More information about the performance.
Hintergrund Finanzierung
About two years ago, Laura Heinecke & Company set out to question the current economic system. With their production “Celebrations for the Funeral of Capitalism,” they celebrated its achievements, recognized its destructive power, and opened the door to something new. In the process, the company has encountered many interesting people who have been engaged in socio-ecological transformation for years, and forms of regenerative and/or community-based economic activity are now becoming deeply embedded in our work. Together with them, the idea arose to try this out for the upcoming play. WG Neumann is thus also an experiment.