The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
The use of the photo is only free of charge in the context of the announcement of performances and with denomination of the author. Any further use of the photos, for example for illustration of reviews, shall be subject to payment of a fee. Please contact the photographer.
Wait To Be Seated is a theatrical collaboration by two feminist collectives from Bangalore and Berlin. In the piece we explore hospitality, using diplomatic protocol as a template – following it diligently as well as purposely infringing some of its rules. In our exchange, the groups appear as hosts and guests for each other, who turn out to be challenges as well as promises and burdens.
“Atithi Devobhava” which means “The Guest is Equal to God” is an often heard phrase in India. In Karnataka Kuvempu famously coined, “Teredide Mane O Ba Athithi”, meaning “The door is open, dear guest, please enter”. There is no equally inviting saying in German that comes to mind. The performance of hosting and guesting is a serious affair especially when one considers diplomatic and transnational contexts. The host-guest cultural code is like a tight net in which both parties may get tangled. There are too many rules, they are too contradicting and they change with person, geography, time and context. And still: a good host will master all of them! This work looks curiously at the rules of hospitality and asks: Who is protected by them and what from? What is left behind when formalities are brushed off? What happens when gender, race and colonialism take a seat at the dinner table? What is it that we can ask each other for – and how can we ever say no?
In Wait To Be Seated, we devise an exercise course of hospitality in a nowhere-anywhere setting – a dinner table, a red carpet, a dance floor. We start off as two groups on opposite sides, adamantly looking for ways to meet in the middle to open up a new horizon.
The premiere took place in Bangalore in November 2025, followed by a German premiere in Berlin in spring 2026 and a tour of Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Trailer
Credits
Idea and concept: She She Pop and Sandbox Collective. By and with: Sebastian Bark, Johanna Freiburg, Raabiya Jayaram, Lisa Lucassen, Mieke Matzke, Ilia Papatheodorou, Shiva Pathak, Nimi Ravindran, Berit Stumpf.
Artistic Advice: Natasha Borenko, Rodrigo Zorzanelli, Artistic Advice India: Sachin Gurjale, Vinod Ravindran, Joshua Muyiwa, Stage: Philine Rinnert, Costumes: Lea Søvsø, Costumes Assistance: Rita Rozhkova, Video Concept: Benjamin Krieg, Light Design and Technical Director: Claes Schwennen, Technical Support: Marius Bratoveanu, Light, Video & Technical Management German Tour: Marius Bratovean, Manuel Louis Horstmann, Michael Lentner, Claes Schwennen, Light, Video & Technical Management India Tour: Niranjan Gokhale, Technical and Production Assistant India: Anand Samudre, Dramaturgical Advice: Foad Esfahani, Intern: Fanny Kempter, German Live Translation: PANTHEA, Documentation India: Richa Bhavanam and Anushka Meenakshi, Social Media and Hospitality India: Leya Mammen, Coaching: Anisha Imhasly, Yumin Li, Coaching Music: Max Knoth, PR & Communication: ehrliche arbeit – freelance office for culture, PR & Communication India: Sridevi Rao, Communication: Tina Ebert, Production: Tina Ebert, Aminata Oelßner, Medha Nidhi S, Elke Weber, Company Management Sandbox Collective: Raabiya Jayaram, Shiva Pathak, Nimi Ravindran, Medha Nidhi S, Company Management She She Pop: Aminata Oelßner, Elke Weber.
A production by She She Pop and Sandbox Collective in co-production with HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Kampnagel Hamburg, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, FFT Düsseldorf, HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, Kaserne Basel & SPRING Festival Utrecht.
Supported by: Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research (Pondicherry) and Theaterhaus Berlin.
This production was supported by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore as part of the project Space for Freedom and Feminism.
Press
Rheinische Post, Claudia Hötzendorfer, 15. March 2026
"Als Grundlage für ihre ebenso unterhaltsame wie tiefsinnige Performance dienten diplomatische Protokolle für Staatsbesuche.(…) Es gibt Szenen, die das Publikum zum Lachen bringen, aber auch solche, die nachdenklich machen. Sie handeln von eigenen Erfahrungen, Vorurteilen und so manchen Fallstricken, über die man unwissentlich selbst schon gestolpert ist."
Nachtkritik, Iven Yorick Fenker, 7. March 2026
"Der ganze Abend verläuft im Modus der verschiedenen Stationen des Beisammenseins (…). Wer die Gefühle der Verlegenheit kennt (…) oder schlicht alle, die einmal ganz entspannt sitzen und einfach beobachten wollen, wie sich andere im Sozialen abkämpfen, wird hier viel Vergnügen haben (…). Zu einer Lösung kommen sie nicht. Viel interessanter als eine solche ist aber der Weg dahin, und der ist sehenswert."
Taz, Katrin Bettina Müller, 7. March 2026
"Die Inszenierung ist bunt und lustig. Der Glitzer von Bollywood liegt über dem Bühnenbild, (…) spielt mit den Codes der Höflichkeit und der Gastfreundschaft, mit Dresscodes und den Regeln des diplomatischen Umschiffens von Konfliktzonen. Aber auch viel mit dem, was man zu wissen glaubt, mit den Imaginationen über das andere Land, die einem schon beim Aussprechen nicht mehr ganz geheuer vorkommen."
Berliner Zeitung, Doris Meierhenrich, 7. March 2026
"...man ist fast gerührt, wie zart und ernst hier jene Tugend abgewogen, erklärt, auf den Prüfstand gestellt wird, die im öffentlichen Leben heute fast nur noch als schlechter Witz oder machtpolitisches Kalkül vorkommt. (...) Jedem werden in diesem Moment die grotesken Willkommensszenen im Weißen Haus oder im Kreml vor Augen treten (…) hier wird nicht nur die sophistische Oberfläche der Dinge zelebriert, durch geschickte Bild- und Fragetechnik wird diese durchsichtig und zugleich in ihre Teile zerlegt."
Deutschlandradio / Fazit, André Mumot, 6. March 2026
"Es war wie eine Art Spiel, wie man miteinander umgeht, wie man Rituale erfindet, um die Fremdheit vielleicht ein stückweit zu überwinden und miteinander auf einen Nenner zu kommen. Und das hat wirklich auf eine sehr entspannte und sehr schöne Weise an diesem Abend funktioniert.“
, Chintan Girish Modi, 5. December 2025
"The performance, described as "a theatrical exploration of hospitility", was funny, wild, bizarre, disorienting, intimate, shocking, philosophical, disturbing and profound. This excess of adjectives is deliberate because excess came across as one of the major themes of the show, and was reflected in costumes, dialogue and emotions. (...) (I'm glad that the exploration of hospitality was not watered down into platitudes and punchlines.) Yet the performers managed to make the audience think about what it means to be hospitable in times of hospitility, how we can honour self and others, and the magic the unfolds when we encounter differences through the vantage point of friendship rather then fear. Please watch it when it comes to your city."
