In June 2023, as a duo of musicians, performers and composers, we were invited to take part in a large-scale project led by director Till Wyler van Ballmoos. This monumental show, which took the form of a 3-storey tour, was presented at the former Oxford Barracks in Münster, Germany.
War and peace are often close companions. The grounds of the former Oxford Barracks in Gievenbeck exemplify this dichotomy. For decades, a closed military world existed here, separated from civil society only by walls. The walk-in theater installation OXFORD SPACEBASE by Ballmoos Productions invites you to enter a time capsule and take a look behind the bricks. Using firsthand accounts, it sheds light on moments from the history of this area—from its use as farmland to the illegal construction of barracks by the Nazis and the stationing of the British army. The former troop building becomes the main character in a production that uncovers the untold, opens up spaces, and vividly confronts the past. In the clock tower, an international team of artists works to preserve memories and counteract forgetting, in the city of the Peace of Westphalia, a former garrison town.
Artistic Direction Till Wyler von Ballmoos
Director, Script Anina La Roche
Scenographic Concept Atelier Lucie Lom | Elisa Fache, Philippe Leduc, Marc-Antoine Mathieu
Composition and Live Music HYPER DUO | Gilles Grimaître, Julien Mégroz
Electroacoustic Installation Cyrill Lim
Performers Stella Maria Adorf, Thomas Douglas, Michael Taylor
Dramaturgy, Text Lorenz Langenegger
Concept Veit Christoph Baecker
Research Jana Bernhardt
Assistant Director Viktoria Mletzko
Production Management Veronika Kalievskaya, Randi Günnemann
Technical Direction Timo von der Horst, Johannes Sundrup
Stage Construction Bernd Heitkötter
Sound Engineering Hirzel Hirzelnsen
Video Documentation Juli Film
Photo Documentation Hanna Neander
Military Advisor Paul Robert McCarthy
https://www.oxfordquartier.de/interview-michael-taylor
A coproduction of Theater im Pumpenhaus and Ballmoos Productions. Supported by the Sparkasse Münsterland Ost Foundation, NRW Arts Foundation, Musikfonds e.V. with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW, NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, Cultural Office of the City of Münster, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. With kind support from the Münster City Archive, Villa ten Hompel, KonvOY GmbH, Münster City Real Estate Management, NRW.URBAN, Kunsthalle Münster, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation, and the Canton of Zug.