How did we get here?

How did we get here? It’s difficult not to insert «the f**» somewhere in this question. The state of the world today is truly no joy. Wars, climate crisis, governments everywhere drifting off to the right... It's despairing. But if you despair publicly, you’ll instantly get someone replying: «Don't be so pessimistic! It wasn't any better in the old days! There have always been crises!» Yes absolutely, and that makes it even worse. The same mistakes over and over again! Humanity may be making great inventions and scientific progress, but as a society we don't seem to be very good at learning. Our social satnav seems to be leading us into the edge of the cliff - and we are stubbornly following it. It's high time we said "Please make a U-turn! Please make a U-turn!"
The phenomenon of history repeating is all the more astonishing when we happily recognise that we - at least many of us - are indeed evolving as individuals. We are capable of learning. Missteps that we thought were okay 10 or 20 years ago are no longer okay today. And that's a good thing! We're actually on the right track and yet we're still straying around. 

In many of the invited productions, it becomes clear that it makes sense to take a look back. Not only to not keep making the same mistakes, but also to help us realise where we actually took a wrong turn. The origin of what is going wrong today lies somewhere in the past. Our collective traumas are obviously far from overcome. 

18 international groups are bringing their current productions to auawirleben 2024, including, as always, many who have never played in Bern (or Switzerland for that matter) before. But of course, there will also be a few familiar faces. And we have handed over the curation of three positions in the programme to three of the invited companies: As part of the format «Bring a Friend», they themselves have programmed productions from their own local context. 

Admittedly, when it comes to the Festival Centre this year, you might be asking yourself «How do we get there?». We’ve left our usual paths and have stuck upon lovely place to settle – at least for one edition of the festival. The Markuskirche, a currently disused church which is undergoing a big restructuring, and the adjoining community centre not only house the Festival Pub, but also serve as further venue for our productions.

For all those who are a bit worried they might get lost in the festival, we offer a Package Tour. Three evenings at the festival with a tour guide - a cultural all-inclusive so to speak. Come and join the trip!

But even if you are travelling to the festival individually: don't despair! We may all not really know how we ended up here, but at least we feel the same. Talk to us, talk to the artists (just not during the performance), talk to your fellow audience members. Someone is bound to have an answer – or at least you won’t be alone.

Your aua Team