One November night, a young man veers off the road and finds refuge in an old house. Three women live there, three ghosts of a civil war. Death has turned them into goddesses and furies. What follows are the witches’ basics of civil war: “Die schwarze Kammer” (The black chamber) is a gothic opera and a zombie ball, Hollywood horror and fantasy story-telling of peace surrounded by wars. A collage of songs and stories of the wars of this world, this new production by Mass & Fieber captivates through sophisticated dramaturgy, density and precision. In this gothic musical play text, musical compositions and film excerpts form an equally unsettling as well as amusing and poetic ghost story. 

WITH Fabienne Hadorn, Malika Khatir, Nicole Steiner, Samuel Streiff, Martin Gantenbein, Markus Schönholzer DIRECTION Niklaus Helbling ASSISTANCE Katharina Wiss TEXT Brigitte Helbling, Niklaus Helbling MUSIC Martin Gantenbein, Markus Schönholzer VIDEO Elke Auer, Christina Peios SOUND Mike Hasler CHOREOGRAPHY Salome Schneebeli SCENOGRAPHY Dirk Thiele ASSISTANCE Christina Peios ARTWORK Thomas Rhyner LIGHT DESIGN Björn Salzer COSTUMES Judith Steinmann TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Peter Affentranger PHOTO Christina Peios PREMIERE Schlachthaus Theater, Bern 02/2008 PRODUCTION Stéphanie Jaquet COPRODUCTION Schlachthaus Theater Bern; Kaserne Basel; Theater Rigiblick Zürich SUPPORT Stadt Zürich Kultur; Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich; Migros-Kulturprozent; Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung; Ernst Göhner Stiftung; Sophie und Karl Binding Stiftung; Georges und Jenny Bloch Stiftung; Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr; Paul Schiller Stiftung; Dr. Adolf Streuli-Stiftung INTERNET www.massundfieber.ch

Mass & Fieber
Mass & Fieber was founded in 1996 by Niklaus Helbling, Martin Gantenbein and Walter Stulzer as a society for the promotion of anonymous fiction, gimmickry and the linking of all art forms. Since 1999, their own pieces and performances, CDs and radio plays have emerged using artists from the fields of music, theatre, video, dance and literature.