A Space Opera by
Opera Lab Berlin
Premiere: Feb 4th, 2026
Further shows Feb 6th, 7th and 8th, 2026
Theater im Delphi
Gustav-Adolf-Straße 2
13086 Berlin
YOU\ME/ALIEN is a theatrical encounter with the ultimate other, a sonic journey into the complexities of identity, migration, and that which we neither know, nor understand. Blurring the lines between the human and the alien, the piece explores how we relate to the outsider - through sound, movement, and story.
Through a shifting, collaborative soundscape, the work treats music not as fixed composition but as an evolving language - one that transcends borders and redefines what it means to belong.
Rooted in lived experiences of migration and displacement, YOU\ME/ALIEN uses voice, rhythm, and gesture toinvestigate the space between self and other. The performers shift between roles of speaker and listener, creating a fluid dialogue where identity iscontinually reshaped and reimagined.
Experimental vocal techniques, collective storytelling, and choreographed interactions combine, the performance as a space of shared vulnerability and resistance. It asks: How do we hear each other across divides? How do we welcome the unfamiliar without absorbing it? Who do we become when we are seen as alien?
This is not opera as usual. YOU\ME/ALIEN is a communal act of listening - a social and artistic experiment in radical empathy. At once fragile and forceful, it challenges us to confront the boundaries we draw between us and them, and invites us to imagine a world where those boundaries dissolve.
Music: Evan Gardner & Opera Lab Berlin /
Text: Susan Stryker & Peach Kander \
Dramaturgy: Bettina Sluzalek /
Production & Associate Director: Ben Goldby \
Production Management: Paula Häfele/
Musical Director: Francesca Verga \
Choreography: Sadie Shea /
Stage and Costume Design: Laura Arriaga \
Video: Samuel Chalela /
Technical Management: Boris Schenk \
Sound Design: Manolo Müller /
Live Sound: Felix von Dohlen \
Press: Sarah Rosenau /
Graphic Design & Social Media: Winnie Fee Kurzke \
Artistic Director: Evan Gardner