(in English with German surtitles)

– Please note that strobe lighting is used during the performances!

A constant whisper lies in the city – behind and above the hum of hard drives. Multilingual, stretched between past and future, diasporic.

IT experts from all over the world are drawn to Berlin, where the future is being designed. But what actually happens behind the screens and glass facades? Who works here? Why? Under what conditions? What promises and hopes drive the protagonists?

In The Melancholic Melody of the New Economy, the whisper becomes a narrative: under the direction of musician, composer, and multimedia artist Ariel William Orah, new Berliners who came from South Asia and Southeast Asia and found a job in Berlin with their English and computer skills create their own composition: Their navigation between job requirements, visa regulations, and role expectations, between past and future, between programming and self-determination, form the source code for the performance. At the same time, they provide insights into Berlin’s flagship industry in this musical-documentary theatre, including its transnational, (post-)colonial entanglements.

As a performer and composer, Ariel William Orah, together with Bilawa Respati, created the performance Gaung – Unpredictable Resonance for the Decolonial Frequencies Festival at Ballhaus Naunynstraße in 2021; in the akademie der autodidakten, he led the Scar-City project in 2023. The Melancholic Melody of the New Economy is his directorial debut.

Press reviews:

“The Melancholic Melody of the New Economy” presented an entertaining glimpse into Berlin’s “flagship” industry.“ (berlinartlink.com September 2024)

“The Melancholic Melody of the New Economy” is a powerful and visually impressive piece of theater, […] The outstanding performance of the actors, the harmonious set design, video design, lighting, costume and the atmospheric sound and music make the piece a unique theater experience.“
(migazin.de September 2024)

“The stage crew reflects the audience: it is just as diverse, young, and cosmopolitan as the performers […] Once again, Ballhaus Naunynstraße skilfully and entertainingly gauges the pulse of the immigration metropolis Berlin with this multi-perspective world premiere.“
(Ute Büsing: “Divers, Jung, Kosmopolitisch“, September 2024)