Dimitri de Perrot

UNTER UNS – A Journey into the depth of the ground
An enveloping sound play by Dimitri de Perrot
NEW CREATION - Premiere on 7 November 2024 at the Gessnerallee Zurich

Listening connects. Listening takes time. In UNTER UNS*, the audience explores, through deep listening, the hidden worlds of the ground as a living treasure in an experimental theatrical experience. The scenography consists of an inflatable shell that takes up the entire performance space, making the outside world disappear. Inside the shell, visitors encounter an expansive, sounding and shaking floor.

As a giant musical instrument, it invites you to lie down and listen to it. Those who do are immersed in a dynamic resonance chamber of sounds and noises that can be freely associated with soil, ground or subsoil: with the rumbling depths and treasures of the earth, as well as the living surface on which countless creatures leave their traces each day.

*UNTER UNS: German for below us, but also a common understanding: between us, among us.


"In UNTER UNS there is as little verbal language as there are concrete visual images. By listening, we enter a space that is co-formed by our very own reflexes, memories and our living body. There is also meaning in these deeper realms, but it is silent and open to the incomprehensible, the strange, the threatening." 

Read the entire preview by Meret Arnold - Kunstbulletin 11/2024 (German):

ABOUT
Dimitri de Perrot uses sound as a central theatrical narrative device in his expansive productions. He entices the audience to listen deeply – because he is convinced that hearing and the ability to listen are essential foundations for any kind of coexistence and for communities of equals. It is an ability that needs to be practiced repeatedly and cared for so that it can develop. The sound landscapes and spatial installations support an intense reflection on the borders between individuals and communities while they create a deep connection to a common reality.

The social issues of togetherness and being connected have been associated with de Perrot’s latest works and are expanded, intensified and observed from a different perspective in each creation. His last full-length creation, NIEMANDSLAND (2021), took place in the spaces in between human daily life. La Terrasse in France wrote: "Between the individual and collective, Dimitri de Perrot questions the barriers between individuals with quite some skill. He accomplishes the feat of being collective, even though he activates our most personal associations." In UNTER UNS, we listen to a world in which people are not the only center of events. Instead, they are part of a larger whole.


CREDITS
Idea, stage design, music, sound design and artistic direction: Dimitri de Perrot
Dramaturgy: Anna Papst
Music – research and co-creation: Julian Sartorius
Light design: Tina Bleuler, Patrik Rimann
Sound design – mix and technical realization: Max Molling
Stage design – textile set: Franziska Born
Stage set – development and construction: Leo Hoffmann
Œil Extérieur and research: Jessica Huber
Photos: Véronique Hoegger, Dimitri de Perrot
Postcard design: Elektrosmog, Zurich
Communication & thinktank Studio DdP: Christoph Meier
Technical direction: Raphaël Vuilleumier
Production management and touring: Studio DdP

Production: Studio DdP.
Coproduction: Gessnerallee Zürich.
Partner theater: Broek Festival/NoNa – Mechelen, Festival Archipel Genève, Le Centquatre Paris, Zürcher Theater Spektakel.

With the support of: Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, Else v. Sick Stiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Migros Kulturprozent, Stiftung Corymbo.

Thanks to: Dampfzentrale Bern, Lydia Kluge, Peter Sauter/Nullachtsechzehn, Roman Müller/Ballonarchiv, Schroeder fire balloons, Simon Krautheim/Johann Kogge, Urs Meier/Luft & Laune, ZAZ Bellerive – Zentrum Architektur Zürich.

Dimitri de Perrot developed the project UNTER UNS as an «Artist in Residence» at Le Centquatre Paris and received a «research contribution» from the city of Zürich and der Pro Helvetia as well as a «concept contribution» from Migros Kulturprozent.

The final rehearsals with premiere on November 7, 2024, took place at Gessnerallee Zürich. Public research moments took place with the installations INTO THE DIRT in March 2023 at the Festival Archipel Genève and in August 2024 at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel and with IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING in June 2024 at the Broek Festivals/NoNa in Mechelen, Belgium.

The city of Zürich and Kanton Zürich support the projects by Dimitri de Perrot/Studio DdP with multi-year grants (Konzeptförderung/Mehrjährige Gruppenförderung). The new support period runs until the end of 2027.

Dimitri de Perrot is «Artist in Residence» at Le Centquatre – Paris.



UNLESS
Photo © Adrian Huber

MYOUSIC with Julian Sartorius
Photo © Augustin Rebetez

Concerts & DJ Sets
Photo © Unknown

KLIRR @ Klang Moor Schopf
Photo © DdePerrot

MYOUSIC - Recording Sessions
Photo © Peter Tillessen

MYOUSIC with Julian Sartorius
Photo © Augustin Rebetez

CHOUF OUCHOUF
Photo © Mario Del Curto

ÖPER ÖPIS
Photo © Mario Del Curto

HANS WAS HEIRI
Photo © Mario Del Curto

HOI
Photo © Mario Del Curto

GAFF AFF
Photo © Mario Del Curto

JANEI
Photo © Mario Del Curto

GOPF
Photo © Mario Del Curto

MYOUSIC with Julian Sartorius
Photo © Augustin Rebetez