Tabs
Talking about silence
On Tour in South Africa!
In September 2026, the ‘Cradle of Creativity’ will take place once again – an international festival for young people’s theatre that features productions for the very youngest children aged 2 and over, as well as plays for young adults. We are delighted to be taking part with “Talking about silence” and to be performing three times at the famous Market Theatre in Johannesburg:
1 September – 7.30 pm // 2 September – 2.30 pm // 3 September – 4.30 pm
Talking About Silence
For everyone aged 14 and over
Everyone has a story about silence. About the truths and memories that go unspoken – out of shame, out of fear, out of pain, or because it is impossible to find the right words to explain oneself.
Silence is contagious. It becomes a habit and takes root, suffocating, crushing and passing on to the next generation.
Who is allowed to speak? Who is heard? Who dares to break the silence?
Six actors tell stories about silence, about the courage to speak out, and how words can bring us closer together.
Watch our documentary to find out how the play came about and gain an insight into the rehearsal process.
The Ishyo Arts Centre (Kigali, Rwanda) and the HELIOS Theatre (Hamm, Germany) are joining forces for the second time to collaborate on a theatre production for young audiences. Carole Karemera and Barbara Kölling as directors, Steffen Moor as playwright, Michael Lurse as set designer, and an ensemble comprising six actors and musicians are spending a year in Rwanda and Germany developing a play about silence.
Many of the discussions during their collaboration so far have centred on the specific histories of Rwanda and Germany and their impact on the people in these countries to this day. The play deals with taboos: social taboos, family taboos, and stories within families that are either spoken of or kept silent. Taboos ‘govern’ how we live together; there are taboos that are essential for survival, as well as those that are nothing more than a means of exerting pressure, a prohibition or a form of discrimination.
„Talking about silence“ is invited to AUGENBLICK MAL! 2025 !!!
Every two years, the Children’s and Youth Theatre Centre Germany invites for 6 days to the most important theatre festival for young audiences “AUGENBLICK MAL!” in Berlin.
A selection jury will select the 10 most remarkable works from two years. A total of 233 productions for young audiences have been nominated for the festival AUGENBLICK MAL!. We are very pleased that “Talking about silence” will be shown in Berlin from May 6-11, 2025.
Team
Performance: Andersonne Uwineza, Kenny Mirasano, Claudia Shimwa, Minju Kim, Michael Lurse, Tamara Hermanns
Production: Carole Karemera, Barbara Kölling and Team
Script: Steffen Moor and Team
Scenography: Michael Lurse and Team
Tech: Malte Kochanek, Benjamin Kurz
Funded by: TURN2 Fund of Bundeskulturstiftung
Press Reviews
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, Westfälischer Anzeiger Hamm / Culture
“Talking about Silence” in the Helios Theater Hamm
BY MARION GAY
Hamm – The family goes on a trip by car, but the mother's seat is empty. Yesterday they went fishing and had fun. Nobody speaks now.
This episode is part of a series of touching stories in “Talking About Silence”, shown at the Helios Theater. The English-language play for ages 14+ is a production by the Ishyo Arts Center from Kigali/Rwanda and the Hammer Theater directed by Carol Karemera and Barbara Kölling with texts by Steffen Moor. The work took place in Rwanda and Germany for a year.
It's about speaking and remaining silent, about secrets, prohibitions and discrimination. The stories often take place in a family context, sometimes they refer to the history of Germany and Rwanda, to war and dictatorship.
Six African and German actors stand on the stage immersed in mysterious shadows (Michael Lurse). The sentences are razor-sharp – “Don’t speak!”, “Talking is silver, silence is golden”, “Only speak if you really have something to say”. Phrases that everyone probably knows.
Most of the stories are minimalistic. The only thing that changes is Claudia Shimwa's facial expressions as she speaks to the voicemail several times and asks for a callback. She bravely listens into the silence.
The boy (Felix Breuel) is lying on the floor of his parents' apartment. Voices from the neighbors reach him: laughter and discussions that sometimes become more violent until the voices fall silent and worry him more than loud words.
There is something deeply sad, heartbreaking about such situations. Although the premiere audience also has a lot to laugh about. But there are also little things like sharing meals together in complete silence. And the opposite can also be unbearable. When irrelevant questions are bombarded at the children in a staccato manner until all they long for is silence. Maybe because they know there could be a terrible truth behind the sentences.
At the end the stage fills with material and the space becomes denser. You can hear the tearing of paper, the groaning of printing presses, the orders of the police: Go into your houses, be quiet! There is genocide in Rwanda, and although this episode is the most tragic of all, it seems much less powerful on stage than the small family dramas.
But why wasn't the mother in the car? The answer is brutal.
