UNTIL THE WATERS FOAM UP

Experimental Performance at Reinbeckhallen, Berlin, 2023.

Conceived and directed by Glen Sheppard. Eight-hour, overnight

performance combining theatre, music, video and durational artistic practice.

Inspired by Antonín Dvořák’s opera Rusalka, the work explored themes of otherness, desire, exclusion, identity and survival. Reinterpreting the opera through a contemporary queer perspective, the performance examined the consequences of social conventions and the vulnerability of those

who exist outside them. Rather than following a conventional theatrical narrative, the production unfolded throughout the

night, allowing time, repetition, memory and physical presence to shape the audience’s experience. Music, moving images and live performance created an immersive environment in which the

boundaries between dreams, theatrical fiction and lived experience became increasingly fluid.

Barbara Sotelsek was part of the trio performance ensemble, contributing to an experimental theatrical work that challenged conventional structures of storytelling and spectatorship.

Presented at the Reinbeckhallen in Berlin on 26 and 28 May 2023, each performance lasted from 9pm until 5am the following morning.

Concept and Direction: Glen Sheppard

Performance: Barbara Sotelsek

Ensemble: Marie-Gabrielle Arco, Billy Coulthurst, Crispin Lord, Fritz Polzer, Barbara Sotelsek and

Felix Utting

Venue: Stiftung Reinbeckhallen, Berlin

Dates: 26 & 28 May 2023

Funding: Fonds Darstellende Künste

https://en.stiftung-reinbeckhallen.de/program/until-the-waters-foam-up/