KAHVE

KAHVE is an intimate theater performance, a warm invitation to experience the history, political, social, and economic power of coffee in an immersive theatrical way during the preparation of a cup of coffee. Binaural sound recording of music and text, smell, movement, and narration come together on stage.

Coffee is a migrant, born and raised in countries miles away, which we can now associate with our lifestyle and sometimes even with a “national identity” (Greece, Turkey, Italy, etc.). The conditions under which and where the coffee beans are produced, who profits from them, and how they end up in our cups are rarely questioned.

With this performance, K&A pay tribute to coffee and investigate the social and political conditions that have led to the practice of drinking coffee. Fascinated by how multiple cultures have embraced this drink and integrated it into their cultural identity, K&A explore its origins and development.

“Because goats danced in the moonlight, because monks fell asleep praying, because the Turks attacked Austria, because Mohammed IV sent an embassy to Louis XIV, because the English drank hard, a new historical engine appeared… this is how we might sum up the prodigious adventure of coffee” Heinrich Eduard Jacob – L’épopée du café

Between history and fiction, legends and myths, the audience follows the journey of the coffee bean and coffee itself through time and space.

About the sound of the performance In “KAHVE,” the spectator listens to the composition through headphones that have been recorded binaurally. Binaural audio mimics the way human ears capture sound waves. By using this technique, sounds are placed in three dimensions, providing the listener with a fully immersive experience. Binaural audio places the listener in the middle of the recording location, thus creating a 360° sonic bubble.