Performance

„Sultan is a famous singer and an actress. She came back to the city for a film project.“

The performance begins backstage in a looping intro sequence. A blurry live projection shows the performer getting ready while the audience enters. Once everyone is seated, Laura Adriana Weibel enters in silence with the live camera, fixing the frame onstage while the projection remains defocused. A new track begins and the performer enters. Before stepping onto the stage, she bows to the audience in three directions. Subtitles appear on the projection, introducing the fictional figure „Sultan“. She steps onstage and poses for imaginary press photographers. A sudden musical shift marks a transition. She turns her back to the audience and walks toward the rear of the stage as „ACT II, SCENE I“ appears as subtitles. The camera slowly moves toward her, bringing the projection into focus. From this moment on, she shifts into another version of „Sultan“. Over the course of the performance, several versions of Sultan appear—moving in and out of the stage, behind and in front of the curtains, each entrance and exit revealing a new mask.

We witness a lip-sync concert in Spanish, storytelling, rapid shifts between personas, veiling and unveiling, storytelling in Kurdish, a lip-sync song in Kurdish, the exit of the live camera, and more…

Duration: 50 Minutes / Premiere: 7th June 2024 Gessnerallee Zurich (Co-Production) / Festival Appearance: 6th & 7th December 2024, Les Urbaines, Lausanne/ Performers: Sultan Çoban, Laura Adriana Weibel / Live-Camera: Laura Adriana Weibel / Staging, Performance, Costumes, Script: Sultan Çoban / Stage Design, Technical Management: Eva Lillian Wagner / Music: Bill Bühler / Light Design, Light Operation: Chih-Ying Lin / Video Tech: Irem Güngez / Production Management: Leila Vidal-Sephiha / Outside Eye: Paula Thomaka

Elements of the performance: Subtitles, Red Velvet Curtains, Self-made Golden Curtain Accessories, Projection Of Live-Cam, Chandeliers, Live-Cam-Woman „Laura Weibel“, Performer „Sultan Çoban“, Preamble On The Wall, Golden Jewellery, Flower-patterned Silk Scarves, Perfume Bottle, Mirror and Dance Barre For The Backstage Microphone, Microphone Stand