NOTIZEN

NEWS & People People In The News News People "Delightfully Animated" Dexter Hamlet Maryland USA

NOTIZEN

NOTIZEN / THE NEWS is an outdoor performance collaboration uniting Signdance Theatre and contemporary puppetry to explore how news, protest, love, and everyday observations shape our shared social landscape.

Rooted in the idea of “notes,” the work follows characters overwhelmed by relentless news cycles. Pioneered by Signdance Collective, Signdance Theatre fuses sign languages, dance, and theatre into a vibrant, accessible form.

Transmitter Performance, led by composer Angelina Schwammerlin, brings innovative new music and interdisciplinary experimentation, informed by her long-term work with Deaf artists.

Slovenian puppetry artist Barbara Bulatović adds refined visual storytelling and object theatre, expanding the piece’s emotional and poetic world.

You can see from the audience's expressions that the performance is moving; there's no one left who isn't thinking. What messages are in the newspapers, what information do they contain?“

Films Photos Reviews Research Results

NOTIZEN TRAILER

The piece is a physical ensemble monologue featuring a man who is confused about whether the news he is hearing is real or fabricated. This internal conflict leads to a discussion about truth and deception. A dragon character then appears to warn the man about potential lies and untruths prevalent in society.

**Fantasy Recruitment and the Dragon's Call**

A man encounters a woman who tries to recruit him into a world filled with fantasy and deception, promising him wealth and ambition. However, he is ultimately lured away by a dragon. The woman becomes conflicted between reality and falsehood, ultimately succumbing to the allure of this untruthful world, which leads her to lose the man. As a result, he must confront a monster in a battle.

**Characters and Secrets in a Narrative**

The narrative revolves around various characters, including the Perfume Girls, the Shredded, the Maid, and the Dragon's Keeper, who acts as a puppeteer with insights into the unfolding story. The Dragon's Keeper communicates secrets through the dragon, who possesses deep knowledge. Meanwhile, a musician explains the world to those willing to listen. Thematically, the story emphasizes the importance of understanding both internal and external worlds. Those who listen and comprehend are regarded as seers and understanders.

Project Report Excerpt -

These ten days of NOTIZEN rehearsals and creation (Croatia August ,2025) , proved both intensely challenging and profoundly enriching. The work compelled me to step beyond the indoor theatre's comfort zone, prompting me to re-examine the relationships between performer and audience, sign language and aesthetics, communication and negotiation, individual elements and the collective whole….Integrating multiple elements NOTIZEN's work is inherently diverse, incorporating signdance, songs, puppetry, and live music.

Our ongoing exploration of how these elements might collaborate rather than operate in isolation has been central. Through persistent experimentation, we learned not only to bring out each element's uniqueness but also to find their shared breathing space and rhythm, enabling them to collectively tell a cohesive story.

Zhiling Guo PHD Student University Of Warwick

NOTIZEN
Audience member Graz Austria

More and more newspaper scraps fly away, colorful paper snippets swirl through the air. An invisible message floats through the park, through the world, on this September afternoon! >Protest from the mind and love from the heart.“<

„It interests people of all ages.“

„You can see from the audience's expressions that the performance is moving; there's no one left who isn't thinking. What messages are in the newspapers, what information do they contain?“

„Sounds painted with an old violin bow on a guitar. Two protagonists dance in wild contortions to the mystical music. The scene appears dystopian, almost apocalyptic. Two city sanitation workers, enjoying a coffee break at a nearby stand, watch the scene intently.“