Staged by DISAPPEARING BERLIN.
Haus1
Waterloo Ufer o.Nr. (Nähe U1/ Hallesches Tor) 10961 Berlin

“Berlin Belongs to Us” is a performance written and directed by Steven Warwick, concerning the mythologies of Berlin, Rome and the Oedipus Complex. Set in the Südliche Friedrichstadt, an area designated as one of the original city Tors or Gates of Berlin in the 1700s, “Berlin Belongs to Us” is the debut of a new performance by Steven Warwick concerning how national identity is constructed, largely through folk legends of animal mascots. Berlin, a slavic term for marsh was rebranded with its bear association and last popularised by the Third Reich for clear ideological reasons. Appropriating medieval texts of religious and personal journeys Warwick fictionalizes a narrative concerning a possible familial link between the Berlin Bear and the orphaned children Romulus and Remus, who are said to have founded Rome.

The Südliche Friedrichstadt itself is ideologically charged, whose streets, whilst largely resembling the 18th Century Stadt Plan, could be mistaken for Speer’s east -west axis, The Landwehrkanal constructed as a trade route during the Industrial Revolution was later used as a further ideological border in parts when the city was divided and, in front of the Haus 1 is the American Library, a “gift” to Berlin following the defeat of the Soviet Air Blockade.