Jennifer Walshe rarely stood still on stage. The Irish composer and performer speed-talked, kicked at the drummer, and wrestled with the space like a preacher trapped in her own feedback loop. She repeated the mantra »We want eternity«, but also ranted about exorcism and self-annihilation. Meanwhile, the keyboardist from Ensemble Nikel unrolled a sleeping bag in the middle of it all. The performance concert Minor Characters – created by Walshe and Matthew Shlomowitz – emerged as a cacophonic sitcom in disintegration. A quirky, deliciously crackling Herzlich Willkommen to Berlin.

Melencolia – the opening production of Berlin’s MaerzMusik festival, created by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck – approached the contemporary moment in a completely different way.