“RAMPE could not have chosen a more fitting premiere for the opening of the new season in these times of budgetary debates”
Stuttgarter Zeitung 5/10/2025
Are the far right come to power? Is the cultural funding being cut? Do you have panic attacks at night and no idea what to do? Don’t worry! The SCHOOL OF SURVIVAL is here for you. Our expertise? Years of survival in dictatorships, under tyrants, and right-wing governments. In short: we’ve already experienced everything you’re about to experience. So listen carefully! What should you pack in your escape backpack? What breathing techniques will help you keep a clear head? And where can you still emigrate to? Survival strategies from real chaos natives – we can do it!
St. Petersburg-born, Berlin-based theater maker Ada Mukhína has teamed up with northeast England-born, London-based musician Calum Perrin to develop a mixture of participatory lecture-performance and music gig: modeled on British gig theater, the result is an empowerment evening for “anxious Germans” about surviving between right-wing extremist governments and gig capitalism.
In the UK, gig theater is a popular genre closely associated with punk, rock against racism, and DIY culture. But “gig” means more than just a performance—it also refers to a new reality. Gig capitalism is a system in which increasingly exploitative business models with short-term work and no social protection prevail. In light of cultural cutbacks and politicians pushing artists toward market-oriented survival strategies, gig theater becomes the perfect medium for critically reflecting on the future of culture in Germany.
“The full blast! At the Theater Rampe, the party goes off in front of the screen with catastrophic news. Calum Perrin rocks the guitar riffs, Ada Mukhína bangs out the electro-pop melody on the keyboard. Wild, punky, until the final chord suddenly hits, the video stops, and ‘System Error’ appears on the screen. Grande finale at the start? Ada, a theatre maker born in Saint Petersburg and living in Berlin, thanks Calum, a musician from north-east England, and her non-existent colleagues, who were not paid: ‘the bass, the organ and everyone backstage’. The audience has only just settled into their seats! But Ada is packing, Calum is scrubbing. Theatre after cultural cuts… welcome to Ada Mukhína’s School of Survival”.
Stuttgarter Zeitung 5/10/2025
Premiere – October 3, 2025 at the opening of the season of the Theater RAMPE (Stuttgart, Germany)
Concept, direction, text: Ada Mukhína
Performance: Ada Mukhína, Calum Perrin
Music, lyrics: Calum Perrin
Video design: Maja Zagórska
Production management: Marit Buchmeier, Lisanne Grotz (xplusdrei Produktionsbüro)
Title image: Evgeniia Chapaikina
Costumes: Ada Mukhína, Maja Zagórska
Sound design: Calum Perrin
Choreography: Daria Iuriichuk
Editing: Marit Buchmeier
Audio description: Valentin Leuschel, Peter Luttringer
THANKS TO: Dr. Duška Radosavljević for her chapter on gig theater in the book “Aural/Oral dramaturgies”; to Mathias Drücker, Jules, Mxgdo, and Sara Pyakurel. Thanks to our various interview partners, including: Vöcks de Schwindt, Robin Leveroos, Maja Zagórska, Calum Perrin, xplusdrei, and our test audience for their feedback. Thanks to Theater RAMPE, especially the technical team.
SCHOOL OF SURVIVAL is a production by Ada Mukhina in co-production with RAMPE. Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Publications:
Mostbacher-Dix, Petra. Eine Form des Kapitalismus: Gig-Theater als neue Realität // Stuttgarter Zeitung 5/10/2025