Ever Given

In March 2021 the container ship “Ever Given” ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking global freight traffic for six days. In this project of the same name, Rimini Protokoll, Helgard Haug and the composer Barbara Morgenstern wish to convey such tipping points on stage. What happens when a person, a system, simply stops working? Sudden standstill, but also the chance to start something new. The incident with the container ship serves as the framing story that explores the repercussions of collapsing systems for all of society, as well as at a personal level. It tells stories like that of the Egyptian musician Adham El Said, who as a child was crippled by a virus quite suddenly.

What does a logistical catastrophe, a blockade, sound like? What does it sound like when the world loses its rhythm? Composer Barbara Morgenstern musically explores these questions together with the percussionist Daniel Eichholz and sound designer Peter Breitenbach. In the performance, the music and text mutually reinforce and influ-ence each other. To achieve this, the artists experiment with new forms for integrating non-verbalised text into the performance on stage. The production is being developed in Berlin, Vienna and Egypt. Performances are planned at the Volkstheater Wien, HAU Ber-lin and the Theater Magdeburg. The production “Ever Given” is the latest collaboration between Helgard Haug and Barbara Morgenstern. Their last joint project “All right. Good night” about the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2022.

Concept / text / direction: Helgard Haug
Composition: Barbara Morgenstern
Live music: Barbara Morgenstern, Daniel Eichholz
Stage/costume design: Evi Bauer
Video/lighting design: Marc Jungreithmeier
Sound design: Peter Breitenbach
Dramaturgy: Maria Nübling, Henning Nass
Artistic assistance: Lisa Homburger
Production management: Maitén Arns, Eva-Luzia Preindl
Participants: Adham El Said, Hana Hazem, Marianne Schwarzbach

Premiere and performance: Volkstheater Wien, Vienna: 13–14 Dec. 2024
Performances: Volkstheater Wien, Vienna: 25 Jan. – 3 Mar. 2025; HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin: 7–10 Mar. 2025; Oper Magdeburg, Magdeburg: 1 Oct. – 31 Dec. 2025