Ein Reenactment des WM-Fußballländerspiels DDR–BRD 1974: von Massimo Furlan mit Tanja Walther-Ahrens

In the organizer's words:

As part of the art trail "Radical Playgrounds: From Competition to Collaboration", the Berliner Festspiele will present Massimo Furlan's reenactment of the historic 1974 World Cup soccer match between the GDR and the FRG, which ended with a score of 1:0, on July 7 and 8. For the first time, it will not be re-enacted in a stadium, but on Niederkirchnerstraße between the House of Representatives and the Gropius Bau, where the Berlin Wall once stood.

Please note that for an optimal experience of the performance, a WLAN-enabled and charged smartphone with the free "Listen Everywhere" app installed is required. You can obtain it free of charge from the relevant app store.

The re-enactment of the 1974 soccer match is about the representation of sporting and social asymmetry. The match was the only direct duel between the two German teams at a World Cup. As both teams had already qualified, it was primarily a political encounter between two countries that had only recently recognized each other. The match was a confrontation of strength and weakness, of arrogance and underestimation, and of unconscious dividing lines. Based on these aspects, we ask where the lines of asymmetry lie today, in politics, in sport, in everyday life, and shed light on the situation of women and queer representation in soccer.

Only two players represent the game and imitate the players' movements: Massimo Furlan himself as Sepp Maier and the footballer, activist and former player from 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam Tanja Walther-Ahrens as Jürgen Sparwasser. Two original radio commentaries accompany the game and the audience can move back and forth between these parallel realities in East and West.

This performance is a celebration of imagination. The idea was born from the shattered dream of a young boy who failed to become a famous soccer player. Many children around the world are experiencing the same story, especially as soccer becomes increasingly commercialized. Massimo Furlan shifted his hopes to the arts.

As a choreographer, he repeated the movements of Michel Platini as he ran into the Parc des Princes, of Zbigniew Boniek in Warsaw or of Sepp Maier in Munich's Olympic Stadium. Dreams come true in art.

Do you know the story? Listen again.

Massimo Furlan (born 1965) is a Lausanne-based choreographer, actor, performer and writer who often explores the connections between play as competition and free play.

Tanja Walther-Ahrens is a former Bundesliga player, special needs teacher, sports scientist and activist. She is still a passionate soccer player in the Berlin state league with SV Seitenwechsel.