In a garret attic in Metropolis, an ageing drag queen reflects on her memories. An entire life is packed into suitcases—not only for lack of space, but also because of precarious housing conditions. The atmosphere, too, is apocalyptic, and in the streets a mob is hunting “freaks.” There are no longer any open escape routes into or out of Metropolis. Only the air remains.

Gradually, friends of the drag queen appear in the attic, which grows ever more crowded and ever more joyful. They sing and tell themselves—and laugh. Memories and stories, images and songs blur into one another. What is imagination, what is real? What is real is friendship, and the drag family becomes the saving airship.

For The Airship, based on a text by X. Schneeberger, Astride Schlaefli and her team—with Michael Wolf in the leading role—have created, around this headstrong drag queen, a fantastic theatrical machine poised between a musical jewellery box and a dancefloor: a humorous and deeply human poetic experience of otherness in times of danger.

Crew

Performer: Michael Wolf Text: X. Schneeberger Concept, Direction, Sound, Lighting: Astride Schlaefli Technical Director: Robert Torche Voices: Florence Schlumberger, Sebastian Krähenbühl, Robert Torche, Freddy Kanyere Set & Costume Design: Stephan Schwendimann Machinery: David Merz Production Assistant: Florence Schlumberger Social Media Assistant: Raven Bühler

NO RESERVATION NEEDED