prick, prick, boom

March 1988, 22:30 at the neurological clinic of the Charité in East Berlin: A young woman holds a syringe to the neck of a nurse. “I am a woman, aren’t I? What do you think?” she had asked on her first day on the ward. Now three police officers and the chief physician are standing in front of the door to her room. The doctor did not record her answer at the time. She also does not document whether the young woman is holding the needle out of resistance or revenge, whether she wants retaliation, chaos, or simply an answer to her question.

Rage is involuntary. Those who feel it can be consumed by it and may hurt those who do not share it. Rage is rupture, desire, and a sign that reality and one’s own existence cannot easily be reconciled. When rage connects us, it creates movement. In «prick, prick, boom» four performers invoke bodies beyond reason. They stop avoiding conflict, stop ducking, stop apologizing, and begin to imagine militancy and anger without consequences. Berlin has long been a historical site of the criminalization and erasure of queer life and of attempts to disrupt queer collective existence. Traces of disobedience can be found in archive boxes and files, between the lines of discharge reports, arrest protocols, and newspaper notices.

Lou Thabart, Paula Pau, Adrian Marie Blount and River Roux rehearse derailment as a form of resistance. Handbags become striking tools, high heels turn into projectiles, braids into whips. Remaining calm is no longer possible, and patience is something no one can afford anymore. “I have already asked. I cannot demand,” the young woman once wrote on the ward. What lies beyond asking?

River Roux (1993) grew up between France and Germany and spent her youth in Freiburg im Breisgau. She studied photography at the University of Brighton. She is a performance and circus artist. From 2021 to 2023, she was part of the Berlin Stripper’s Collectiv, developing performative feminist works for stages, festivals, and clubs. Her artistic practice is shaped by diverse professional experiences and explores themes of labor, care, and sex.

On 14.5 22:00, an Artist Talk will take place with River Roux, together with DDCP at the Festival Centre. The talk will be broadcast live on Radio Rabe.