Performance “Common Ground” | Germany / Belgium / Netherlands
Creators: Common Ground Collective
Direction: Common Ground Collective
Music: Michael Strobel
Stage design: Karoline Hahn
Costumes: Common Ground
Lighting: Reynaldo Ramperssad
Outside Eye: Stefan Schönfeld
Cast: Andreas Bartl, Evertjan Mercier, Zinzi Oegema, Emma Laule, Lisa Rinne, Marius Pohlmann
Premiere: 2019
Date: August 27, 2026 | Thursday
Time: 7 pm
Place: Power Plant, Fuzja - Łódź, 6a Milionowa Street
Tickets: 20 PLN - early bird | 25 PLN - industry | 30 PLN - regular
Early bird tickets: on sale from June 23, 2026 until July 7, 2026 or until they are sold out | via biletomat.pl portal | online payment
Regular tickets: on sale from July 8, 2026 until they are sold out | via biletomat.pl portal | online payment
Industry tickets: for cultural workers, on sale one hour before the selected event, at the Festival Office | cash or contactless card payment | booking: from June 23, 2026, by mail:biuro@retroperspektywy.com
Duration: 75 minutes
Age restrictions: None
Language: Non-verbal
DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFORMANCE
… because together we’re more than just a sum of individuals.
“Common Ground” is an enthusiastic circus performance advocating respect and cooperation. On a catwalk stage with a set of wooden cubes, the six award-winning artists will push you to the edge of your seat and beyond.
This optimistic and ambitious show constantly pushes at boundaries. Conceptually, in its indictment of boxed-in lives. Technically, it consists of a variety of circus disciplines such as human towers, swinging trapeze and Chinese pole. Theatrically, by engaging with the audience, the performers literally search for the “common ground” between spectator and artist. With acrobatics, humor and live music this show is both spectacular and intimate and will touch you at your core.
REVIEWS
“Common Ground” confirms that the bundling of competencies here has succeeded all around… so coherent and touching, as it rarely succeeds. An undertaking that was worthwhile!”
(“BNN”, 27.09.2019)
“Humor, atmosphere music, great artistry… so everything about “Common Ground” is just right, right down to the wonderful ending.”
(“Circuszeitung”, 10/2019)
“Dazzling.”
(“Theaterkrant”, 19.10.2019)
“It is truly impressive, overwhelming what we are seeing in the Sala Concha Velasco. These great artists are surprising for their maturity, for their judgment, for their dramatic tension, for their dry virtuosity and their drama. And also for their humor… To cultivate solidarity, that is why these artists are essential for the future of culture and also for the future of the people.”
(“Tribuna Valladolid”, 20.04.2023)
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Common Ground Collective - we, Common Ground, are organised as a collective. We make decisions together about artistic choices as well as about all organizational questions. Tasks are shared between us and every one of us supports the group in the best way possible, doing what each is best at. We all met at the Academy for Circus and Performance Art in Tilburg, in the Netherlands, where most of us did our circus studies. For quite some years we have performed in different shows, projects and companies as solo or duo artists. In 2015, we decided to bring together our experiences, visions and skills to create a performance based on the common ground of this specific group.
Andreas Bartl - Germany | Chinese Pole | The Nit-Picker - After finishing high school easily with the best grades, I had the academic world at my feet. I could have become whatever I wanted: a lawyer, a doctor, but luckily I found myself a serious job and became a circus artist! Specializing in handstand during my studies at ESAC, I struggled for some years with this discipline but then fell for the Chinese Pole and dove with all my energy into yet another career within the circus world. As I never stopped being curious about learning something new, I joined professional training in acrobatic rigging and social circus training. Temporarily, I had a look at university, graduating in social anthropology and education, where I worked as a circus lecturer and did stage organization over the years. Recently, I also resumed my musical endeavour, as I had trained clarinet and saxophone in the past. Together with Lisa I have travelled the world producing shows and acts under the label of Circus unARTiq.
Evertjan Mercier - Belgium | Hand to hand | The Force - Destined to become an archaeologist, I landed in the circus… I discovered it all on the go, from my first hesitant steps at the academy where choosing a discipline was no easy matter, passing from juggling to banquine and even taking a very short shot at the tight-wire. I was very lucky to meet an amazing bad-ass flyer. It is the most exciting life I could have imagined, traveling to all continents, performing in all kinds of places for so many different people. As part of the duo Zinzi & Evertjan, we shape our imagination performing our act, the street show in summer and - only recently - “MEMO”, a duo piece about identity and (in)dependence. After experiencing collective work with the French Company XY, we wanted to make it our own and the next step in our development is a fact - Common Ground is born!
Zinzi Oegema - Netherlands | Hand to hand | The Architect - I started doing circus when I was four and just never stopped. When I graduated at sixteen, I was in doubt about what to study: biology or chemistry? In the end, I decided to chase my dream of becoming a circus artist. Together with Evertjan I’ve been performing as a hand-to-hand duo for ten years now as Zinzi & Evertjan and it still feels as if in every new project there is more still to discover. In my opinion circus can include many art forms, it enriches physical exceptionality with everything it needs to express what it wants. Strict expectations are missing and the non-existence of rules is its strength. I love performing with live music as well as to sing and accompany myself on the guitar. I discovered a great interest in dance and have a minor in choreography. Recently, I have taken my first steps as a circus director for others with the projects “Barstool Bound” and “PIT with TENT”. I hope to inspire people with my work, to get them to open themselves up to more possibilities than they ever imagined thinking of.
Emma Laule - Germany | Vertical rope | The Utopist - Growing up I wanted to do something out of the ordinary and change the world, at least a little bit. Becoming a circus artist seemed to be the perfect match, guaranteeing never to become too rich and too much part of the system, and never to get stuck in routine. After one year at Die Etage in Berlin and another 4 years at ACaPA in Tilburg, Netherlands, where I specialised in vertical rope, I am now traveling and performing in many different projects from Varieté over street show to theatre and experimental performance. Next to my work as a performer I am also developing my own productions in which I take over dramaturgical and production tasks. I am also active in the German “Feminist Circus Initiative”. I love traveling, learning languages, inventing new recipes, reading philosophical texts (even though I have to look up all the terms), singing, sewing costumes, drawing, lazy Sundays and - my latest project - learning how to play the accordion.
Lisa Rinne - Germany | Swinging Trapeze | The One Over the Moon - At some point in my life after high-school I decided to get up in the air. I said, “Fly high or go home!” Well, I haven’t seen home in a long time… Instead, I just worked my way through the whole circus world and won prize after prize, without really going for it. It just happened. The press says that my work is extraordinary and unique. This might be because nothing makes me happier than working on 33 feet of height and just being! I want to not only impress with the technical and innovative quality of my performances but also share the “joie de vivre” open-heartedly with my audiences through my love for flying. And even though I am a grown up, professional and experienced human being… I just can’t stop being youthful, fearless and curious. I love circus arts as much as coffee, and beer. So, by the end of the day, you find me at the bar still hungry to create new projects, all the time devoted and committed, in these last years together with Andreas, under the label of Circus unARTiq.
Marius Pohlmann - Germany | Banquine | The Team Player - Ever since I was young, I was passionate about circus and street theatre. Through circus classes and the annual street culture festival in my town, I was inspired to learn tricks, develop shows, and perform them on stage. After high school and a free social year of culture in a children's circus institution, I decided to apply to circus schools and to become a circus artist. A future as an artist seemed more exciting and joyful to me than studying a technical profession and working in an “office job”. At circus school I quickly became passionate about partner acrobatics and working in groups. The concentration in training, creating and performing shows fascinate me. I have been working as a performer since 2012 under the name of Company Satchok. We have mainly been working in the street theatre scene and performed at many festivals. Recently, I entered the other side of the scene and I became the artistic director of the street culture festival in Nordhorn, the city where I grew up.
Event financed from the funds of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
