One doomed woman tells story after story to gain night after night. The thread of the story is the only thing leading her through the labyrinth of her doom. Inside the stories she tells, the most frequently tendered coins to buy someone’s life are again stories.
»The Physics of Sorrow«, Georgi Gospodinov (Translation: Angela Rodel)
Caught between German bureaucracy – »Your documents don’t allow for an extension of your residence permit. There’s nothing I can do.« – and calls from her alarmed family – »Don’t even think about coming back to Iran!« – Scheherazade has only one weapon: stories. Out of them, she builds a labyrinth into which she gradually lures the clerk at the Immigration Office. Just keep talking, keep talking util the guy gets confused, loses the thread, forgets about the documents. Play for time till the Office closes, get one more appointment — »the last one, really« — gain one more week in Berlin.
In »Zai el Lila«, Hanik Soleimani and Marianna Wicha combine the dramaturgy of One Thousand and One Nights with autofiction, original music inspired by Byzantine melodies, and the techniques of contemporary puppetry. A blend as wild as the stories have to be, which one tells to survive.
On 20.9., a concert by Jigaraki—Hanik Soleimani’s band featuring Elèni Mik and Nafsika Gkotzamani—will take place in the set of »Zai el Lila«.
Link to concert.
