BAM!, the festival of Berlin’s independent music theatre scene, is back!
Productions that aim for intimate proximity to a rather smaller audience are characteristic of this city’s independent music theatre; they dominate the programme this time as well, and are each given several performances. The projects intended for larger audiences can only be experienced once in the auditorium of the Volksbühne. The evening performances are preceded in the Sternfoyer by a performance project that is also performed only once.
In 2022, the diversity of its programme reflects the enormous variety of this scene in experimenting with forms of performance and modes of expression of a new music theatre. Once again, Berlin proves to be a metropolis and melting pot of a “different” music theatre – a music theatre between performing arts and performance, pop and post-avant-garde, so-called “contemporary music” and electronic grooves.
Since the last staging of the festival in October 2019, independent music theatre maneuvered through a difficult time. With the will to live and the unbroken vitality of the independent music theatre scene, BAM! this year also reflects the intense confrontation with a changed world. Often the programme is about isolation and contact, about physicality and the disembodiment of our relationships, about irritation and insecurity in perception of the external.
This edition of the festival also differs from its last in its formats. Not to stand still as artists, many shifted from the stage to digital space during the lockdown. The addition of an extensive film programme to the festival’s lineup acknowledges the amount of interesting work that has been produced in this field over the past two years. BAM!s centre in 2022 will still be Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, but the Volksbühne will now be joined diagonally across the street by the Babylon Cinema, built by Hans Poelzig in the 1920s.
An alternative escape route, from the corona-enforced evasion of the theatre into the pixels of the film world, is that of the installation – the staging of a space in which visitors themselves appear as the sole actors. Just as the Babylon continuously invites visitors to view the “BAM! film reel” over a period of three days, Villa Elisabeth also invites visitors to view its installations.
With its “Mapping Music Theatre” programme, BAM! therefore reaches beyond Berlin and seeks to engage with another centre of new music theatre in Europe, which changes each time the festival is held. In 2022, the focus will be on Switzerland. Three theatre productions, a late-night performance, an installation, and an associated panel complement the Berlin programme.
Productions that aim for intimate proximity to a rather smaller audience are characteristic of this city’s independent music theatre; they dominate the programme this time as well, and are each given several performances. The projects intended for larger audiences can only be experienced once in the auditorium of the Volksbühne. The evening performances are preceded in the Sternfoyer by a performance project that is also performed only once.
Also this year BAM! offers the possibility of engaging in conversation, controversy and the formation of one’s own ideas in the comparison of competing paths of current music theatre. All venues are close to one another. BAM!‘s Festival Lounge is a meeting space for conversations. Despite increased costs, ticket prices have not been raised. For many events – including the popular late-night events – admission is also free. And in 2022, BAM!‘s own tried-and-tested discount system will continue to apply when multiple tickets are purchased.
We are looking forward to meeting you!