Independence! Self-determination! The Costa Compagnie filmed in civil war-torn South Sudan, in the Brexit chaos in the UK and in Bavaria and asks in their cinematic performance: What does independence mean today, for what and by whom? Do we want to fight for or against it? And how does colonialism, the cause of many independence movements, continue today?

Not only does Fight (For) Independence span over two years, but also geographically over thousands of miles to diversify perspectives on the subject and de-colonize narratives. In return, the Costa Company from Berlin joins forces with the State Theater Nuremberg, the State Theater Oldenburg and the Edith Russ House for Media Art. From this triangle the group sets out into two European and two African countries in order to follow the tantalizing but also dubious call for “Independence”. The worldwide research began in South Sudan, the youngest state in the world to become independent from the rest of Sudan after a long armed struggle. It continued  in the United Kingdom on the formerly planned date of Brexit and went on to the region Franconia in the federal state of Bavaria, where one party is also seeking to break away from the national state of Germany. On the basis of interviews conducted on site, a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and multimedia work emerges on stage, also integrating 360°-footage and a VR-installation into the work.

In the 2019/20 season, the research will then continue from Mozambique’s struggle for independence through Catalonia’s attempts for separation to German identitarian groups around Oldenburg. Here, the project will present the second production “Independence for You”  (May 2020) at the local State Theater, as well as the choreographic work “Independence in Space” (January 2020) in the Edith-Russ-House for Media Art. All results will be shown in Nuremberg, Oldenburg and Berlin and will go on tour in 2020.

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