Nicoleta Esinencu / HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Chisinau/Berlin)

We live in a society dedicated to progress: democratic, scientific and technological progress that would supposedly bring us all social justice, prosperity and a good life, a new world or even a new planet. It is precisely this idyllic concept of progress that Nicoleta Esinencu focusses on in «Sinfonie des Fortschritts» (Symphony of Progress), revealing its violent aspects. The piece shows how progress within the capitalist system incessantly creates new forms of exploitation and colonisation. It shows how technological development leads to control and oppression instead of protection and support, and how the violence between West and East is progressing and has even been intensified by the pandemic. Supported by the pounding sound of work tools and machine parts, Nicoleta Esinencu and the spălătorie collective tell the story of people from Eastern Europe who have to work in degrading conditions in the West in order to survive.

The director and writer Nicoleta Esinencu lives in Chisinau, Moldova. Through a scholarship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, she gained international recognition in 2005 with her play «FUCK YOU, Eu.ro.Pa!». In 2010, she co-founded the independent cultural venue teatru-spălătorie. This had to close again in 2017, but the collective continues to exist as an independent theatre group. «Sinfonie des Fortschritts» is the second collaboration with HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin.