In the organizer's words:

Available here: COMBITICKET SATURDAY IN THE RED SALON: € 22 / reduced € 12 / valid for both events in the Red Salon on Saturday, December 13: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (performance) at 18:00 and The Stage as Witness - Artists between Worlds (panel) at 19:30

Part of the program of:
3 DAYS TO LIBERATION II
(statement and program)
December 12-14, 2025
Conceived & curated by Maryam Palizban
Presented by CONSTANZA MACRAS / DORKY PARK

A play for the beautiful minds

The philosopher Giorgio Agamben refuses to accept the existence of refugees by questioning borders as the source of originality and identity. In his work, he formulates a radical critique of human rights and the nation-state order. The focus is on the question of which borders we find ourselves within in the first place - and thus every person who questions the meaning of borders is put in the spotlight.

In HAPPY BIRTHDAY, a play by and with Sahar Rezaei, the director is alone on stage. At first, we see a figure on which confetti slowly and continuously trickles.

As the audience enters, everything on stage transforms into a picture: the figure waiting for the audience also becomes part of this framed picture. From an existential perspective, she asks herself what this picture is and remembers her own experiences with pictures. Through the personal story, which in the end takes on universal validity, we become witnesses of a journey through the last thirty years: from Tehran with its protests via Prague to Frankfurt, in search of a form of liberation - in resonance with today's struggles against fascism, oppression and genocide, which we encounter all over the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY is dedicated to the beautiful spirits - those who are there, who have been there or who are yet to come. A happy birthday to those ghosts who shape history and whose images cannot be found in any archive.

Sahar Rezaei is a director, author and former head of drama at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau. She initially studied engineering at Tehran's Polytechnic University before studying directing at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. In her works, Rezaei examines the relationship between everyday motifs, space and the body and their relation to current political issues. She works interdisciplinarily as an author, photographer and director. Her projects have been shown at venues including Mousonturm Frankfurt, Schauspiel Hannover, Staatstheater Marburg, Studio NAXOS, Divadlo Archa in Prague and Divadlo Flora in Olomouc.

CREDITS
Text, direction & performance Sahar Rezaei
Video & acting coaching Samuel Simon
Dramaturgy Björn Fischer
Costumes Mareike Wehrmann
Music Sara Trawöger
Video technology Greta Markurt

Performance: German language | English translation

Part of the program by:
3 DAYS TO LIBERATION II
(statement and program)
December 12-14, 2025
Conceived & curated by Maryam Palizban
Presented by CONSTANZA MACRAS / DORKY PARK

Price information:

Available here: COMBITICKET SATURDAY IN THE RED SALON: € 22 / reduced € 12 / valid for both events in the Red Salon on Saturday, December 13: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (performance) at 18:00 and The Stage as Witness - Artists between Worlds (panel) at 19:30