With the reprisal of “A Masque for the Multiverse”, laborgras and Ensemble CONTINUUM celebrate another unusual encounter between the Baroque and the present day. The production highlights the importance of cultural multiplicity and the courage to re-imagine traditions. Eight musicians, three singers and four performers come together to create a vibrant reinterpretation of the historical tradition of masques. Baroque music by William Lawes – composed for the court of Charles I – meets contemporary works by Shara Nova, whose compositions bridge the distance between pop culture and baroque sound.

Despite the 400 years between the composers, their works show conceptual parallels in their telling of transformation and identity. In her opera “You Us We All”, Shara Nova creates a harmonious transition between the epochs and makes the baroque allegories ‘Hope, Love and Death’ reflect on existential questions of life today.

Her texts challenge us to question familiar assumptions: “What is our life? What purpose does beauty serve these days?” Inspired by the idea of the masque – a revolutionary and historically extraordinary event at the English court of James I and Charles I – the tradition is translated into a contemporary format. The audience is invited to move freely around the performance space, to find their own perspective on the happenings and make their own decisions on proximity to or distance from the performers – thus becoming an active part of the event. With sensuality and irony, laborgras and CONTINUUM open up space for reflection and change.

‘A Masque for the Multiverse’ is part of the retrospective with which laborgras is celebrating its 25th anniversary in Berlin this year.