Sosamma in Oberzeiring

Sosamma in Oberzeiring („Sosamma“ means in German dialect „that's how we are“), was created as the opening act of the Werkstatt 2.16 in Oberzeiring, a festival of world premiers. It was a one hour walk lead by the diverse song repertoire of the multi-cultural female choir Sosamma from Graz, discovering the streets, paths and hotspots of the West-Styrian village of Oberzeiring. In addition, a character representing a local narrator, told the audience anecdotes about the places they were passing by and about the inhabitants of the village, mixing facts with fiction and introducing the songs.

The concept behind this first attempt for the choir to work outdoors is to let the music of the choir and the local spaces influence each other in the creation of scenes. The stories sung and told connect people and spaces and allude to a certain past, to the here and now, to a probable future, or merely offer fantastic visions. It is about offering the audience a broad variety of possible perceptions of the surroundings. For the development of every musical scene, humour was as much the main ingredient as the creation of strong and poetic images in the spaces.

Concept and artistic direction: Ana Redi-Milatovic

Musical direction and concept: Vesna Petkovic

Narrator: Matthias Ohner

Sosamma choir singers: Vesna Petkovic, Gerda Jaritz, Burgi Jaritz, Karin Schmied-Schimeczek, Karin Schagerl, Stephanie Liebmann, Katharina Grilj, Eva Buchinger, Annalena Trummer, Nora Winkler, Karoline Türk, Adida Opresnik, Michaela Handke

Musicians: Vladimir Vesic, Sasa Prolic

Artistic advising: Alina Stockinger

Production: Eléctrico 28

Co-production: theaterland steiermark

Photos: muzungu, Jakob