Date: 30 March
Time: 3.30-6pm
Max. Participants: 15 
Place: Media Library of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin

For registration click here.

“From there I went to another café – what else was I to do?”
Anna Seghers, Transit (1943)

Join theatre artists Zoë Svendsen (UK) and Roman Senkl (AT) for a workshop, discussion, and ‘try-out’/sharing, to explore themes of migration, climate, AI – and love – via a new interactive performance app. Building on the core themes of waiting and bureaucratic limbo in Anna Seghers’ novel, Transit (1943), a laconic and powerful study of its impact on the lives – and futures – of those fleeing the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, we will explore how these stories of waiting resonate today, in an era where bureaucratic systems are increasingly driven by AI that is non-transparent (even to its engineers), and in which climate uncertainty is being used to foster scarcity narratives, drive xenophobia, and justify border closures across the world.

“For the third time, let me tell you, they'll let you stay here in peace for a certain piece of time only if you can prove that you intend to leave. Don’t you understand?"
“No. ”
Anna Seghers, Transit (1943)

The experience will be created using story.glitch, a new interactive storytelling engine, built on the Unity game engine, and we will explore together how this technology enables us to engage with these themes, as a catalyst for discussion and exchange. We hope to engage with fellow creatives of all backgrounds and disciplines, with lived experience of being caught up in bureaucratic systems – who are interested to exchange stories and explore with us how interactive technology can playfully shed light on invisible digital systems, tapping into wider questions around surveillance and sanctuary. We hope to foster new connections and start to build a platform for future collaboration and cross-fertilisation. Come and experience this emerging technology for playful interaction, exchange stories, and explore possible future collaboration.

Roman Senkl, based in Berlin and Vienna, is a theatre director/writer with a focus on digital and hybrid theater since 2008, both in ensemble theater (Burgtheater Wien, Schauspiel Köln, Volkstheater Wien, Schauspiel Dortmund, Deutsches Theater Berlin) and in independent theater (Ringlokschuppen Mülheim a.d. Ruhr, HAU, Konzertsaal UdK). His pioneering works include stage and multimedia productions, mixed reality performances (AR, VR - including the world's largest VR environment in Mozilla Hubs with Ars Electronica), holographic projections, as well as apps for interactive storytelling and artificial intelligence. His work has been nominated for both “Digital Showcase”/Theatertreffen as well as FAUST Prize, his livestreaming projects generated more than half a million views, whilst his creative campaigns received more than 20 international creative awards (including the Golden Lion Cannes, London International Awards, CLIO Awards Las Vegas, ADC Awards International & Germany). 

Roman has been co-founder of the “Academy for Theater and Digitality” in Dortmund, Head of the “Digital Arts Laboratory” at the Berliner Festspiele / Theatertreffen as well as Head of the “Department of Digital Arts” at Theater Dortmund; as well as various initiatives, such as the “Plattform Graz” (with Clemens Setz, Gerhild Steinbuch and others), the K.G.I., onlinetheater.live and “Digital Dramaturgy” - a network for exchange in the field of digital arts and theatre. With onlinetheater.live, he has been developing innovative livestreaming formats in the digital space since 2016, in 2020, he founded and organized “UnBoxing Stages Festival” for the Theatertreffen. Roman is a founding member of the Naked Theatre, a pan-European theatre network initiated by Belgian theatre director, Luk Perceval.

Zoë Svendsen is Artistic Director of Metis Arts Projects (UK) – metisarts.co.uk – making participatory theatre performances and installations exploring ecological crisis and capitalism, including: Ness (HighTide 2025); Wild Dress (Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking); the Amt für Zuwart und Gegenkunft @reEDOcate me! Floating University, Berlin; the cabaret improvisation show, Love Letters to a Liveable Future (Cambridge Junction); the video installation Factory of the Future (Oslo Architecture Triennale); the Artsadmin Green Commission, WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE MAY BE (Barbican), World Factory (Young Vic/tour/book). Zoë also works as dramaturg to reimagine classic texts for the contemporary stage with London theatres including the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe, the National Theatre, the Young Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Zoë regularly works with the composer and sarod player, Soumik Datta, to create theatre-concert hybrids exploring migration and memory, including Mone Rekho (Edinburgh International Festival; international tour) and Borderland (Queen Elizabeth Hall, with the London Philharmonia Orchestra/Kings Place). Zoë is Associate Artist at Cambridge Junction, and lectures on dramaturgy and performance at the University of Cambridge, undertaking practice-led research. Zoë’s book, Theatre & Dramaturgy, was recently published by Bloomsbury. As Associate Artist at the Donmar Warehouse in 2022 Zoë developed the concept of ‘climate dramaturgy’, a holistic approach to climate conscious artistic practice. As Associate Artist and AHRC Knowledge Exchange Fellow with HighTide Theatre Company, Zoë embedded the practice across the organisation, and its network of writers across the Eastern region. Zoë’ has contributed an article on on ‘climate dramaturgy’ to the International Theatre Institute’s Jahrbuch (in English and German). In September 2023, Zoë curated a day-long event for theatre directors, with the three National Theatres (Scotland, Wales, UK), to explore the challenges and affordances artist-led climate care. Zoë is a founding member of the Naked Theatre, a pan-European theatre network initiated by Belgian theatre director, Luk Perceval.