Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald: I want revenge, grandma – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald:
I want revenge, grandma

A performer kneels on a large mound of earth, digging into the soil with their hands. The light highlights their posture while the surrounding space remains dark. Behind them, the outline of a projection screen is visible.
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What defines the colonial relationship between Liberia and Germany? What does this relationship tell us about the larger context of Europe strangling Africa and her people for centuries? In this sensorial and multi-layered performance, Colleen Ndemeh invites audiences to do the work of confronting, remembering, and cracking open – hard shells, old wounds, dusty museum vitrines. Using her framework of the four R – “restitution, reparations, revenge and return” – she analyzes the past while staying connected to concrete demands for the present and future. She uses her Kpelle roots as a technology for opening pathways towards what comes next.

What comes after centuries of colonial violence?

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The information on accessibility is still in progress and will be updated as soon as possible. If any questions remain unanswered until then, please feel free to contact the communication department at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).

Early boarding

If, for artistic reasons, the door to the auditorium does not open until very shortly before the performance begins, there is the option of early boarding.

Tickets

  • Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
  • Via the online ticket shop
  • At the box office

You can also find more information about accessibility at the house here.

Creation, performance: Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald
Video editing: Julia Cohen Ribeiro
Sound design: Nancla
Light design: Catalina Fernandez
Video material from: Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald, Pablo Werner Pacheco, Klaus Renkin, Ralph Werner
Mentoring, support: Atabey fka Carlos Maria Romero, hn lyonga, iki yos peña narváez

A production by Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald in cooperation with HZT Berlin. The 35th Tanztage Berlin is a production of Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. With the kind support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V., Theaterhaus Berlin and HZT Berlin. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Rausgegangen, Siegessäule, taz.

Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald is a multidisciplinary performance artist, activist, and cultural worker of Kpelle (Liberian) and Irish-American descent. Her movement-based practice is rooted in Afro-diasporic, West African, and contemporary dance techniques, centering her feminist, antiracist, and anticolonial politics. She received her BA in Dance and Anthropology from Bates College (USA) and her MA with distinction in Performance at the University of the Arts Berlin – HZT (Germany). She has performed and taught in the Americas, West Africa and Europe. From 2014 to 2019, she lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she was artistically and politically active with Afro-diasporic communities. There, she co-founded Kukily, an Afro-feminist arts collective working across borders in performance, audiovisual media, installation, and community-centered projects. In 2024, Kukily was invited to the Lagos Biennial.

  • A performer moves barefoot across the floor, letting soil fall from their hands. Behind them is a mound of earth with arranged objects, including a potted plant, bottles, wooden pieces, and small artifacts. The scene is lit with an atmospheric glow.
    © Alicja Hoppel
  • A performer with long braided hair moves in a dance-like gesture across the stage, holding a white feathered object in an outstretched hand. Beside them is a large mound of earth with arranged objects such as bottles, plants, wooden pieces, and a sign reading “ANCESTORS.” The scene is lit in warm tones.
    © Alicja Hoppel