THE VOICE OF THE CITY collects stories of the citizens and implants them into the heart of the city, the council hall.

The stories experienced reanimate the original idea of architect Arne Jacobsen: he built the entire town hall as a visionary architecture with a democratic heart, which claimed the mediation and visualization of transparency and participation in urban processes. Together with the citizens and decision-makers of the city, the collection, processing and performance of the city's voice is planned and carried out.

With a mobile recording studio we tour the city of Castrop-Rauxel and invite people to share their stories in the microphone. These are theatrically condensed by the playwright Bettina Erasmy. In the council hall, actors will finally read the stories of the citizens and local choirs, music bands and sound imaginations will integrate the visitors into a walk-in surround installation.

The figure THE VOICE OF THE CITY plays the role of the alter ego of architect Arne Jacobsen, who designed the Town Hall in Castrop-Rauxel in 1965. It guides through the issues raised by citizens and links them with history and facts. The sound to the stories and THE VOICE OF THE CITY is generated from the composition of the musician Michael Emanuel Bauer and the sound installation and musical accompaniment of the sound artist Hannes Strobl.

The visitor will find himself in a resonance room in which language, text and sound become the trace reading of a city. At the end of the performance, the collected material will be handed over to the mayor in transcribed form in an archive box for the city archive.

Artistic Director: Pia Janssen

Project Management: Jolande Kirschbaum

Author and Dramaturgy: Bettina Erasmy 

Musical direction: Michael Emanuel Bauer, Hannes Strobl

Choreography: Francesca Best


StoryBox Timetable

19-22 July 2018 / Ickern Altstadt, 44581 Castrop-Rauxel