The Names / שמות

by Ariel Efraim Ashbel & friends

“The Names /שמות” welcomes you on a sensual, musical, literary journey.

How can religious or cultural practices and experimental performance enrich each other? From Arnold Schönberg’s opera “Moses und Aron” to traditional Yemenite sounds to Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”, Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends arrange (pop-)cultural references into a rousing show. Following the traditional Jewish practice of weekly scripture readings, the group takes a passage from the Torah as the basis for a full-length spectacle. A new text by the author Senthuran Varatharajah is brought together with the sound of Studio LABOUR, the voices of the Berlin “Show Choir” and a visually powerful lighting concept by Joseph Wegmann. The result is a new gospel that not only tolerates but celebrates diversity and complexity, renewing the age-old promise of a community that is constantly in the making. 

Credits:

Artis direction: Ariel Efraim Ashbel

Costume designer: Marquet K. Lee

Costume assistance and making by me

Photos: Frank Sperling