In a world shaped by economic uncertainty, climate crisis, globalization, and technological disruption, a collective sense of loss of control is growing. Right-wing populists offer a simple solution to it: clinging to old, familiar structures. Yet the current crisis makes one thing clear: those structures have failed us. They abandoned us. It’s time to say goodbye. To break up. To move on.

HARD_BREAK </3 is a performance about breaking up. Somewhere between karaoke stage, techno club, and rage room, it invites the audience into a collective breakup ritual unfolding in four phases. Its starting point is romantic separation: a universal, painful, sometimes grotesque, often cathartic experience shared by millions of people across generations and contexts. But the work goes further – it explores breaking with toxic relationship patterns, neoliberal self-optimization imperatives, and the seductive pull of the so-called “good old days.” The project treats “breakup” as a performative and choreographic practice: the space becomes a walkable collage of fractured movements, looping gestures, collective destruction, and tender re-assembly.

In a time where reactionary narratives are rising globally, HARD_BREAK </3 invites us to part ways with outdated frameworks – and to explore new ways of relating, identifying, and imagining futures together.

______________________________


𝙱𝚈 & 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷: 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚘 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊 [𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚣𝚎𝚙𝚝, 𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗]; 𝙻𝚞𝚍𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝙱𝚘𝚟𝚎 [𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚌𝚘-𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗]; 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚊 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚎 [𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚢]; 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚁ü𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 [𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍]; 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚊 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗, 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚃𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚛 [𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗]; 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙾𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 [𝚌𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗]; 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 𝙸𝚔𝚒 [𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐].


ᴄᴏ-ᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴋᴀᴍᴘɴᴀɢᴇʟ ʜᴀᴍʙᴜʀɢ. ꜰᴜɴᴅᴇᴅ ʙʏ: ᴄʟᴀᴜꜱꜱᴇɴ-ꜱɪᴍᴏɴ-ꜱᴛɪꜰᴛᴜɴɢ, ᴢᴇɪᴛ ꜱᴛɪꜰᴛᴜɴɢ ʙᴜᴄᴇʀɪᴜꜱ, ʙᴇᴢɪʀᴋꜱᴀᴍᴛ ʜᴀᴍʙᴜʀɢ-ɴᴏʀᴅ.

______________________________


Pics: ©Marie-Theres Böhmker