Echos aus Eritrea

In the organizer's words:

Violent riots in connection with Eritrea festivals loyal to the regime are drawing attention to the Eritrean diaspora. Eritrea, often referred to as the "North Korea of Africa" due to its repressive government, is forcing millions of people to flee. The military threat posed by neighboring Ethiopia is countered by compulsory military service, which is indefinite and leads to forced labor and torture. This is the main reason for the mass exodus to Europe. However, escape attempts often end in prison camps and families are deliberately torn apart. After the riots, there were calls to deport those involved to Eritrea despite the clearly threatening situation.

Against this backdrop, how are we supposed to look for and find a new home when the ghostly distortions of the old one keep haunting us? And why does the cold gaze persist in a Europe that has already experienced a similar history, including the GDR and the collapse of Yugoslavia?

Echoes from Eritrea sheds light on the tension between homeland and diaspora and shows moments in which identity threatens one's own freedom.

Nina Mattenklotz was born in 1980 in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia. After studying Media Culture, Modern German Literature and Psychology at the University of Hamburg from 2000 to 2004, she studied directing at the Theaterakademie Hamburg until 2008. Since then, she has directed at the Schauspielhaus Wien, Schauspiel Stuttgart, Nationaltheater Weimar, Kampnagel Hamburg, Theater Bremen, Luzerner Theater and Theater St.Gallen, among others. Since 2012, she has worked closely with the independent Hamburg group Theater Triebwerk.

Nina Mattenklotz's work revolves around the questioning of social classes, gender-specific power relations and their representation in family, love and work. Her main focus is not to evaluate characters, figures and actions, but to understand them. For her, making theater means working in a team from the start of rehearsals to the premiere.
"Echoes from Eritrea" is her first work at the Staatstheater Kassel.