We will die! There. It’s out now. Even if we are usually quite good at blocking out the knowledge of our mortality – a global virus does a pretty good job of reminding even the most successful forgetters of the biological facts. But isn’t our mortality precisely what the gods envy us for? Argan, the imaginary invalid, is one of those people who aren’t prepared to accept the finite nature of their being. He feels left alone with his fear of death, all his hope hangs on the supposedly positive effects of enemas and bloodletting. That remains to be seen. At least this is encouraging: for as long as we are afraid of death, at least we are still alive. Although when the play premiered in 1673, it made macabre headlines. During the fourth performance Molière, who was playing the imaginary invalid himself, suffered a massive hemorrhage and died while still in costume.

In our musical version of this great comedy, »The Imaginary Invalid” is a musical, an inclusical, a pop opera, a grotesque about glowing love and laughing death.

Christian Behrend, Lioba Breitsprecher, Heiko Fechner, Eva Fuchs, Claudia Graue, Hans-Harald Janke, Tobias Kreßmann, Anil Merickan, Joachim Neumann, Hieu Pham, Zora Schemm, Leo Solter, Nele Winkler, Michael Wittsack

director: Jacob Höhne
stage design: Gero Kindermann
costume design: Beatrix Brandler
music: Micha Kaplan
video: Alexander du Prel
dramaturgy: Steffen Sünkel
musical rehearsal: Johanna Peine
technical director: Jan Langebartels
assistant directors: Jana Prigge, Vicki Steinmüller
Second assistant directors: Charlotte Kachelmann, Friederike Walzer

We will die! There. It’s out now. Even if we are usually quite good at blocking out the knowledge of our mortality – a global virus does a pretty good job of reminding even the most successful forgetters of the biological facts. But isn’t our mortality precisely what the gods envy us for? Argan, the imaginary invalid, is one of those people who aren’t prepared to accept the finite nature of their being. He feels left alone with his fear of death, all his hope hangs on the supposedly positive effects of enemas and bloodletting. That remains to be seen. At least this is encouraging: for as long as we are afraid of death, at least we are still alive. Although when the play premiered in 1673, it made macabre headlines. During the fourth performance Molière, who was playing the imaginary invalid himself, suffered a massive hemorrhage and died while still in costume.

In our musical version of this great comedy, »The Imaginary Invalid” is a musical, an inclusical, a pop opera, a grotesque about glowing love and laughing death.

Christian Behrend, Lioba Breitsprecher, Eva Fuchs, Hans-Harald Jahnke, Tobias Kreßmann, Anil Merickan, Joachim Neumann, Hieu Pham, Zora Schemm, Nele Winkler, Michael Wittsack, Claudia Graue, Leo Solter

director: Jacob Höhne
stage design: Gero Kindermann
costume design: Beatrix Brandler
music: Micha Kaplan
video: Alexander du Prel
dramaturgy: Steffen Sünkel
musical rehearsal: Johanna Peine
technical director: Jan Langebartels
assistant directors: Jana Prigge, Vicki Steinmüller
second Assistant directors: Charlotte Kachelmann, Friederike Walzer

RambaZamba is organising a rally! We demand that the social participation of artists with disabilities be ensured and that barriers be dismantled at a swifter pace. The demonstration on 25 August 2021 will include a band and a DJ and will start on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz at 4 pm. We will walk together through the neighbourhood to the grounds of the Kulturbrauerei for the final rally, which will also be the opening of the two festivals Studio 21 and Pop-Kultur. Come in large numbers, link arms and dance together for inclusion.

Eröffnung der Festivals mit Rausch Royal, Beteiligten & Gästen.

Enter the arena.
Of course, yes please, thanks.
I’m in. - Me too. - Me too.
Rainald Goetz, Rave

Oh, to go clubbing again! In the catacombs of the Kulturbrauerei, Studio 21 opens its doors as a spectacular inclusive club. A club that even the club capital Berlin has never seen before. A club which is managed and run by people with disabilities, inclusively occupying all the key roles: the bouncer, the DJane, the bar staff. Visitors step down into a hedonistic world of music, dance, encounters, amusement park and drinks – lost during the pandemic, now found again. Famously, the most exciting time of day is night. As soon as the light goes, the rules and stories change, and this is where these unique moments can be experienced. Welcome to the arena. Welcome to the immersive club Studio 21.

The performance can be followed with audio description and we are happy to supply a sign language interpreter. Please note however that the club is not wheelchair accessible.

Christian Behrend, Mario Gaulke, Juliana Götze, Sven Hakenes, Moritz Höhne, Franziska Kleinert, Shirly Klengel, Tobias Kreßmann, Jennifer Lau, Uwe Locati, Anil Merickan, Dirk Nadler, Sascha Perthel, Rebecca Sickmüller, Jonas Sippel, Sebastian Urbanski, Nele Winkler, Michael Wittsack

directing: Ensemble
stage design: Hanna Zeyer, Wanda Straub
costume design: Beatrix Brandler
music: Leo Solter
video: Lillevan
technical director: Jan Langebartels
assistant director: Vicki Steinmüller

Choolers Division from Belgium are a mesmerising electro-hip hop band. A crazy live machine that gets out of control and produces dizzying sounds and lyrics. Musicians Antoine Boulangé and Jean-Camille Charles created this exceptional band together with MCs Kostia Botkine and Philippe Marien – both artists with trisomy 21. Choolers Division emerged around clubs such as La Friche de la Belle de Mai and l’Embobineuse and are supported by the organisation La »S« Grand Atelier.

After over a hundred concerts across Europe, they produced their first, self-titled album two years ago. The beats and punchlines are an unparalleled adventure, an energetic confrontation with seemingly established ways of seeing and hearing. For everyone who missed Choolers Division at the Pop-Kultur festival in 2018, this is a second chance to see the band, with new songs.

Antoine Boulangé, Philippe Marien, Kostia Botkine, Jean-Camille Charles, Jonas Lambert, Viktor French

That’s how much Hamburg rocks. Fheels have those rough edges and that mind of their own that keep the excitement in every relationship going. Sometimes tough and determined, sometimes quirky, but sometimes also snuggly and romantic. The four-man band’s songs stick in one’s mind. And all without them trying to please the crowds at all costs.

What makes Fheels special is that particular mix of Blues, Rock, psychedelic moments and a sprinkling of Soul. Underscored by singer Felix’s impressive vocal spectrum, the sound is hard to forget. Fheels’ debut EP »Traveller” was released in 2017. Since then they have played numerous concerts in venues such as the Grüner Jäger in Hamburg and the Bar Tausend in Berlin.

Felix Brückner, Jens Boysen, Tobias Nitzbon, Justus Murphy

At the end of the day, after the concerts, performances, and workshops, what we like to do is to celebrate together. The bar of the RambaZamba Theater is the perfect place for that. Every evening, a DJ and good drinks will invite you to come dancing.

Ick Mach Welle is a project that gives people with disabilities an access to electronic music. Its goal is to get the participants on stage with shows of their own. Its slogan: »We demand inclusion – in clubs too!” Nico Deuster, creator of the Killekill label, producer and initiator of Ick mach Welle, is one of the pioneers of the inclusive electronic music scene. In this workshop the participants work together with our musicians and Hanni from the band Pisse to create a show that is performed on the evening.

Workshop facilitators:
Nico Deuster created the Killekill label, appears as a producer under the name DJ Flush, and initiated the ICK MACH WELLE project, which provides people with disabilities with an access to electronic music. As a promoter, her regularly organizes the Krake Festival for experimental and electronic music.

Hanni is a drummer and multi-instrumentalist, instructor and singer in the band »Pisse”. He has been working for years in an interdisciplinary way to empower people with different abilities.

Enter the arena.
Of course, yes please, thanks.
I’m in. - Me too. - Me too.
Rainald Goetz, Rave

Oh, to go clubbing again! In the catacombs of the Kulturbrauerei, Studio 21 opens its doors as a spectacular inclusive club. A club that even the club capital Berlin has never seen before. A club which is managed and run by people with disabilities, inclusively occupying all the key roles: the bouncer, the DJane, the bar staff. Visitors step down into a hedonistic world of music, dance, encounters, amusement park and drinks – lost during the pandemic, now found again. Famously, the most exciting time of day is night. As soon as the light goes, the rules and stories change, and this is where these unique moments can be experienced. Welcome to the arena. Welcome to the immersive club Studio 21.

The performance can be followed with audio description and we are happy to supply a sign language interpreter. Please note however that the club is not wheelchair accessible.

Christian Behrend, Mario Gaulke, Juliana Götze, Sven Hakenes, Moritz Höhne, Franziska Kleinert, Shirly Klengel, Tobias Kreßmann, Jennifer Lau, Uwe Locati, Anil Merickan, Dirk Nadler, Sascha Perthel, Rebecca Sickmüller, Jonas Sippel, Sebastian Urbanski, Nele Winkler, Michael Wittsack

directing: Ensemble
stage design: Hanna Zeyer, Wanda Traub
costume design: Beatrix Barndler
music: Leo Solter
video: Lillevan
technical director: Jan Langebartels
assistant director: Vicki Steinmüller

People who have been following Station 17 during the past 30 years know: the only constant thing about this band is change. To develop, to stretch music, to test limits, that has always been the focus since the band was created in 1989 in Hamburg as a project of a residential community of people with intellectual disabilities, Wohngruppe 17. The collective began as a creative and social project and was the first of its kind to bring together differently abled musicians from the alternative music scene. Over the years, Station 17 have emancipated themselves from the original idea of a purely creative-social project and with their special mix of Electro, Krautrock, Disco, Noise and Pop developed into an internationally renowned group in the experimental Indierock genre. The collective has played over 800 concerts in numerous European countries and collaborated with other renowned musicians such as Holger Czukay, Fettes Brot, Barbara Morgenstern, Andreas Dorau, Dj Koze, Die Toten Hosen and many more.

Christian Fleck, Sebastian Stuber, Philip Riedel, Marc Huntenburg, Ernesto Schnettler, Nils Kempen, Siyavash Gharibi, Philipp Jah Wulf, Hauke Röh, René Huthwelker

Stille Vann make Indie pop with German lyrics, characterized by synth sounds that remind one of the 1980s. Intelligent song-writing, compelling compositions and polyphonic singing enter into ever surprising musical relations. The now five-person band’s lyrics, which range from profound to cheerful, cleverly play with the big things: a lovely day by the lake, individual freedom and comfort, or the next break for a smoke. »It is about not stopping believing in your dreams,” says band member Tamy, and »about being able to realise your full potential, even if takes a little bit longer sometimes.”

At their concerts, everything around becomes suddenly more beautiful and the world appears in a pleasant soft light. Together with the Hamburg musicians Isa Poppensieker (Olli Schulz, Tonbandgerät) and Stella Sommer (Die Heiterkeit), the five have been writing songs since 2017 and released their first EP in June 2018.

Tamara Keitel, Lisa Raziejewski, Viola Hackbarth, Gül Gülcan, Sebastian Stuber

The name »Druckwelle” means shock wave, which says it all for Ick mach Welle. In this concert with numerous synthesizers the audience will be hit by precisely that. Together with Hanni from the band »Pisse” the musicians will play an electronical concert in which earplugs are basically mandatory. They last played at the late-night show »Hi Freaks” in the RambaZamba, and they are regular guests at the »Spaceship Party” in the Mensch Meier club. The concert takes place together with the participants in the »Druckwelle” workshop.

The name »Druckwelle” means shock wave, which says it all for Ick mach Welle. In this concert with numerous synthesizers the audience will be hit by precisely that. Together with Hanni from the band »Pisse” the musicians will play an electronical concert in which earplugs are basically mandatory. They last played at the late-night show »Hi Freaks” in the RambaZamba, and they are regular guests at the »Spaceship Party” in the Mensch Meier club. The concert takes place together with the participants in the »Druckwelle” workshop.

At the end of the day, after the concerts, performances, and workshops, what we like to do is to celebrate together. The bar of the RambaZamba Theater is the perfect place for that. Every evening, a DJ and good drinks will invite you to come dancing.

In the beginning was the word… In this spirit, the workshop »Rhythm and Poetry” is about giving you, your feelings and your needs a platform, a voice in the truest sense of the word. The workshop will be about understanding and learning the theoretical foundations of rapping, in terms of music and language. Also practical skills will be developed and deepened, such as: How do I turn a feeling or a theme into a meaningful text? How do I set my text to music so that the rhythm fits? How do I develop a sense of rhythm and my own flow? With and by Luis Lyrisch & partner.

21 downbeat are the RambaZamba actors Eva Fuchs, Moritz Höhne, Hieu Pham, Heiko Fechner and the composer and musician Leo Solter. The inclusive band’s basic principles are: exhilaration and ecstasy - blasts and confetti explosions. Disregarding any kind of established boundaries and notions, the band members create their own individual sound from their own texts and those of contemporary poets. You could describe them as satyrs, cheerful demons and followers of Dionysus, who are hard to tame and for whom our established boundaries and notions simply aren’t relevant.

The debut album with song texts by the award-winning author Yoko Tawada is released in summer 2021. At »Hi Freaks”, the late-night show at the RambaZamba Theater, 21 downbeat regularly performed together with different guest musicians. The evening »Rausch Royal” and the pop opera »Der Ring” were created in the context of the Pop-Kultur festival. 21 downbeat have made further appearances e.g. at Mensch Meier, the Kantine am Berghain, and the Fusion festival.

Heiko Fechner, Eva Fuchs, Moritz Höhne, Hieu Pham, Leo Solter

Cool, cooler, Hamburg: that is the place Dain Fadinzt call home (Dain Fadinzt is a phonetic transcription of Dein Fahrdienst, which means »Your Taxi”). The quartet emerged from the artists’ collective barner16, a network of differently abled professional artists. Originally created to set the memoirs of barner16’s oldest member, an autistic woman, to music, Dein Fadinzt takes on hits of the past few decades and twists them into new musical artworks and veritable earworms with upbeat lyricism and a very distinctive sound. Their concerts, the authors say, are »a feast for the eyes and the ears, to party and catch your breath”. The band produced their first EP »Für Kristin” themselves – it is not for sale and only meant to be given as a gift. By the way: Dain Fadinzt welcome every gift of attention, two rum-and-coke plus loads of hugs.

Niklas Drefin, Torsten "Toto" Graf, Kevin Hamann, Oliver Ruhmkorf

Supa Star Soundsystem play Dub, Disco, Afrobeat, Electro, Rap, Reggae, Funk and anything else they can get their hands on. The inclusive DJ collective was created in 2018 and counts DJ King Pommes, Luis Lyrisch, DJ K_arim and Bela Patrutzi as its members. Luis Lyrisch raps and freestyles to the tunes. Last year they started their own monthly radio show, Supa Star Welle, at THF Radio www.thfradio on the site of the former Berlin Tempelhof airport. Supa Star Soundsystem now appear regularly at events and venues in Berlin and beyond, such as the Klunkerkranich, Mensch Meier, SO36 and YAAM, and have appeared twice already in the late-night show »Hi Freaks”. The concert takes place together with the participants in the »Rhythm & Poetry” workshop.

RambaZamba’s project »Rausch Royal” regularly unites new and well-known musicians with and without disabilities. This time the musicians Andreas Spechtl (Ja, Panik), Lasse Winkler (ACUD), Philip Theurer (Konglomerat quartet) and Uwe Langer (17 Hippies) are working together with musicians of the RambaZamba Theater. To kick off the festival, they will musically accompany the rally for »artistic freedom of artists with and without disabilities” and play a concert at the RambaZamba Theater on August 27. What kind of genre can we expect? We don’t know yet, but most certainly it will be danceable, so come and celebrate.

Uwe Langner, Andreas Spechtl, Sebastian Urbanski, Lasse Winkler, Nele Winkler, Michael Wittsack

At the end of the day, after the concerts, performances, and workshops, what we like to do is to celebrate together. The bar of the RambaZamba Theater is the perfect place for that. Every evening, a DJ and good drinks will invite you to come dancing.

The workshop will focus on creating on-stage dramatic effect with electronic instruments that are
steered via sensors or performatively expressive controllers. The workshop is for active musicians who are wanting to work on staged music projects together with people with disabilities who have not played a musical instrument before, and for people with disabilities who would like to express themselves musically on stage without playing or needing to learn a conventional musical instrument. At the end of the workshop there will be a 30-minute concert which incorporates the experiences that have been made. Workshop participants, please bring your own headphones with cables that are as long as possible.

Leo Solter, Chris Keller

The workshop will focus on creating on-stage dramatic effect with electronic instruments that are
steered via sensors or performatively expressive controllers. The workshop is for active musicians who are wanting to work on staged music projects together with people with disabilities who have not played a musical instrument before, and for people with disabilities who would like to express themselves musically on stage without playing or needing to learn a conventional musical instrument. At the end of the workshop there will be a 30-minute concert which incorporates the experiences that have been made. Workshop participants, please bring your own headphones with cables that are as long as possible.

Leo Solter, Chris Keller

Gika Wilke is blind, her daughter Lucy Wilke is a wheelchair user. Together they are the band blind & lame. They chose the name so as to quickly have done with the topic of »disability”. Because then everybody can concentrate on what really matters – the music! With their unmistakeable sound – modern guitar pop meets gipsy-rhumba, swing and soul – blind & lame take the audience on a crossover trip around the world and make danceable singer-songwriter music at its best. With their soulful performance on stage, the minimal line-up manage to create maximal magic moments. Since their debut in 2014, the musicians have received a lot of media attention. They are considered a »model band with disabilities”. That probably elicits little more than a casual shrug from the mother-daughter duo. Because they are one thing above all else: extremely cool.

Gika Wilke, Lucy Wilke

Seldom has noise been more enchanting! The Wild Classical Music Ensemble from Belgium are an inclusive band on an unheard-of odyssey of sound. A unique hybrid of New Music, Free Jazz, Punk, Rock, and Noise. In 2007 the Brussels-based sound artist and drummer Damien Magnette met four artists in the Flemish town of Kortrijk: together they founded one of the first inclusive bands ever. What began as an experiment in free musical improvisation soon developed in its very own direction thanks to the punk-rock riffs of guitarist Kim Verbeke. Later they were joined by Sébastien Faidherbe, who gave the group, a sextet from then on, an even more energetic tone. Since then they have released a number of EPs, most recently TOUT VA BIEN SE PASSER / HET KOMT ALLEMAAL WEL GOED (2019). After numerous stops at international festivals they can finally be seen live in Berlin again.

Wim Decoene, Sébastien Faidherbe, Johan Geenens, Damien Magnette, Linh Pham, Wout Wittevrongel

Leo Solter and Chris Keller’s compositions are partly created using electronic sound generators, effects and manuals, thus transporting their audiences into entrancing electronic soundscapes. The evening is at once an experimental concert, performance and sound installation. The instruments are mainly DIY, promising impressive stage effects. RambaZamba actor Zora Schemm will join the duo as a guest musician. The concert takes place together with all the participants of the »Sensorium” workshop.

Nauten are the actors Julian Götze and Jonas Sippel from Berlin and the musicians Lisa Zwinzscher and Philipp Rohmer from Leipzig. The quartet see themselves as experimental space travellers in their own musical cosmos, moving without taboos through different spheres of contemporary and historic music culture. The borders between electronic Ambient Jazz, Neue Deutsche Welle and folk songs dissolve as they intertwine with dance and performance elements. Well-known and unfamiliar songs become the key to a feeling, an interpretation that melodically surrounds and inhabits us, makes us feel at home or abandoned, raises questions and transports us. Newly interpreted, timelessly smashing hits tear us out of comforting listening habits, only to rock us soothingly from side to side again the next moment. The band were formed following a coproduction of the RambaZamba Theater with the Deutsches Theater Berlin. In 2020 they played their debut at the 44th Leipziger Jazztage festival in the UT Connewitz.

Juliana Götze, Jonas Sippel, Lisa Zwinscher, Philipp Rohmer

At the end of the day, after the concerts, performances, and workshops, what we like to do is to celebrate together. The bar of the RambaZamba Theater is the perfect place for that. Every evening, a DJ and good drinks will invite you to come dancing.