Fear & Fever

A Performance about Malaria

“We can eradicate malaria – within a generation” says Bill Gates. Humans discovered a cure for malaria 400 years ago and yet up to a million people die from the bite of a mosquito every year. Why is that? Inspired by debates about disease, medicine and belief systems, Flinn Works (Berlin) and Asedeva (Dar es Salaam) explore the unequal world of malaria in a theatre-science lab. Clinical studies oscillate with historical reenactments, scientific choreographies and TED talks. The audience is confronted with the conflicting politics of malaria research and treatment: after being infected, how would you like to be cured, by the latest drug from Switzerland, Chinese herbal tea or a traditional Tanzanian healing ritual? Would you rather wear mosquito-repellent sandals, drink gin and tonics or eradicate malaria with genetically modified mosquitoes? Drawing from individual experiences and research, the performance becomes a headspin of a journey through decades and continents, creating an atmosphere alternating between high-tech lab, village square and fever dream.

A Flinn Works and Asedeva Production

Created by: Isack Peter Abeneko (performance and choreography), Konradin Kunze (research and performance), Alice Harrison (assistant director and performance), Eric Ndikumana (performance), Sophia Stepf (artistic direction), Léa Dietrich (stage and costume design), Jürgen Salzmann (video design), Andi Otto (sound design), Caroline Meier zu Biesen (consultation), Helena Tsiflidis (management)

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ilse and Dr. Horst Rusch-Foundation, Gerhard-Fieseler- Foundation, Vijana Vipaji Foundation, Ministry of Science and the Arts Hessen, Cultural Department of the City of Kassel & Goethe Institute Tanzania

In co-operation with Sophiensæle Berlin, Museum am Rothenbaum & LICHTHOF Theater Hamburg, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie der FU Berlin, Goethe-Institut Tanzania, Nafasi Art Space/ Dar es Salaam, Ibuka Dance Foundation Arusha, TaSUBa Bagamoyo, Theater Tuchlaube Aarau

Events

Sophiensæle Berlin: September 26 (opening) - 29, 2019 / MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Hamburg (in co-operation with LICHTHOF Theater): October 8 & 9, 2019 / Staatstheater Kassel: October 11 & 12, 2019 / Little Theatre, Dar es Salaam: October 23, 2019 / Nafasi Arts Space, Dar es Salaam: October 24, 2019 / Bagamoyo Festival: October 26, 2019 / Ibuka Dance Foundation, Alliance Francaise Arusha: Oktober 30, 2019

Press

This raises relevant questions. For example, which idea is scarier: the infection with malaria and the regularly recurring bouts of fever? Or the targeted release of genetically modified mosquitoes that pass on their genetic malfunction to their offspring and thus gradually wipe themselves out? No less relevant is the question of who should decide whether such a radical intervention, which could potentially save human lives, should actually be used: the governments of the countries concerned or William 'Bill' Gates and his billion-dollar foundation? After all, the latter has announced his intention to put an end to malaria by 2040.

Junge Welt

Fundamental medical, ethical and economic questions are raised in the production. (...) In this experimental set-up, the audience doesn't just watch and receive a wealth of information. They are involved in the events and become actors themselves. From a dramaturgical point of view, the concept has worked, the uncertainty is great.

Hessisch/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA)