Fear Industry

The Cypriot Performance “Fear Industry” has been selected “Best Theatre Performances of Berlin Stages” (Zitty Magazine, Berlinale Issue, Feb 2016). Returning from BERLIN last month and before continuing its European Tour to Gothenburg, Athens and Stuttgart, the performance will be staged for 1 PERFORMANCE ONLY at Theatro Dentro, Nicosia. (In English with Arias, Lieder and Choral Works by Schumann, Purcell, Wolf, Lang, Pärt).

«An invasive and pervasive testimony.»
– TimeOut Magazine

Selection: «Best Theatre Performances of Berlin Stages.»
– Zitty Magazine, Feb 2016 (Berlinale Issue)

What are we afraid of?
The performance explores the concept of fear and its orchestrated manipulation through economic and political forces, its dissemination by the media and its subtle proliferation in contemporary society. 2 performers and 1 mezzo-soprano reveal a living archive of 21st century fears: we now fear anything from killer bees to pedophiles, deadly diseases and online spying, avian flu, old age and mad cows, immigrants, anthrax, wrinkles, environmental collapse, and, lest we forget, terrorists.

«…beyond the social and political dimension of the theme, the director chooses to confront the audience with the psychological: the instincts, the guilts, the fantasies, those emotional and mental «passageways» which make us so vulnerable to fear, and so susceptible to its malevolent and poisonous effects…» – Jiorgos Savvinides, Fileleftheros Newspaper

The performance, staged in English with two actors and one mezzo-soprano, intertwines theater and stand-up performance with fragments of Live Arias and Choral Works (Schumann, Purcell, Lang, Wolf, Pärt) to project concepts of real and imagined fear perceived in today's society. The work proposes a "living archive", combining personal stories, analytical context, and historic speeches to shed light on the origins of fear and the social, political and cultural motivation for its amplification and manipulation.

«The atmospherically dense staging places us in a vigil state of recognising a culture of fear everywhere in all its glorification and with all its personal, political and cultural dimension… …Wieland manages to move this performance in the category of art as a vehicle of reawakening.» – Christina Georghiou, ANEF Magazine

The production as well as some sections of the European project tour are supported by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, the Cultural Funding Program of the City of Stuttgart, Diablog.eu , the German Embassy Nicosia, Kulturabteilung der Republik Zypern in Berlin, MITOS/Center of Performing Arts, the University of Nicosia, the Goethe-Institut and Columbia Shipmanagement

Direction/Idea: Achim Wieland
Performers: Marios Ioannou, Elena Kallinikou
Mezzo-Soprano/Performer: Marianna Pieretti, (Dramaturgy/Text: With the performers), Artistic Advisor: Lia Haraki, Light Design: Giorgos Lazoglou, Script Advisor: Linos Panagi, Costume/Set: Sossee Eskidjian, Music Consultant: Panos Bartzis, Video/Trailer: Stephen Nugent

Ticket Price: €13 / 10
Reservations (Recommended): +357 99286908