Length: approximately 1h40
Heiner Goebbels, bold innovator of music theatre, distills a century of history into 1 hour and 40 minutes. Everything That Happened and Would Happen is an undefinable scenic and musical experience shaped by the improvisations of its performers. Four musicians—including an Ondes Martenot player—and twelve performers relentlessly bring to life a humanity seemingly intent on its own destruction. Premiered at the Manchester Festival to mark the centenary of the First World War’s end, the work draws from Patrik Ouředník’s Europeana, John Cage’s anti-opera Europeras 1 & 2, and the Euronews program No Comment, where the absence of commentary lets events speak for themselves.
Heiner Goebbels concept and conductor
John Brown, Heiner Goebbels lighting design
Willi Bopp sound design
René Liebert video design
Matthias Mohr dramaturgy
Juan Felipe Amaya González, Maud Blandel, Sandhya Daemgen, Antoine Effroy, Ismeni Espejel, Montserrat Gardó Castillo, Freddy Houndekindo, Thành Nguyễn Duy, John Rowley, Annegret Schalke, Ildikó Tóth, Tyra Wigg performers
Camille Émaille, Gianni Gebbia, Cécile Lartigau, Nicolas Perrin musicians
Everything That Happened and Would Happen - French Premiere
Performance in German with English and French subtitles.
Production and distribution by Plan B Creative Agency for Performing Arts – Carmen Mehnert & Anne Schmidt. Produced by Heiner Goebbels, Artangel. Co-produced by La Villette, IRCAM-Centre Pompidou.