DEEP SEA BABY

DEEP SEA BABY dives into a world that remains hidden to most people – cold, slow and unimaginably deep. And yet it is becoming the target of capitalist exploitation: the deep sea – even here, 4,000 to 6,000 metres below sea level, corporations want to extract raw materials, specifically manganese nodules. The International Seabed Authority manages this shared ‘heritage of humanity’ and decides on the rules for possible mining. Sea cucumbers, CEOs and the Patania II manganese nodule collector are just some of the players in deep-sea mining.

Using sound and video, the performance questions the mechanisms of progress – and the possibility of thinking, feeling and existing differently. What if we approached the depths of the oceans not as a resource, but as a space for resonance?

An immersive, polyphonic stage event by Marlene Helling and team – somewhere between science fiction, reality shock and poetic disruption of the logic of growth.

Concept, Research und Development: Marlene Helling, Marei Dierßen, Juli Grönefeld and Simon Vorgrimmler 
Performance: Marlene Helling, Mona Sachße und Josephine Kalies 
Sounddesign and Music: Juli Grönefeld 
Video: Simon Vorgrimmler 
Stage: Marei Dierßen 
Costume: Anita Ackva
Technical Management and Lightdesign: Desirée Garcia Lopez 
Creative Producing und dramaturgical consultation:  Laura Zielinski

Co-production partners: Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum

Funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste from funds provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW State Office for Independent Performing Arts, Kunststiftung NRW