The other day at Basislager Coworking, I was talking to a colleague and he pointed out that this might be a good time to remind people that “we’re all fuckin’ the same.” We’re human, and our humanity is what sets us apart from animals – rather than from each other. It’s our (shared) consciousness, mistakes, (com)passion, the flawed but persistent love, which has to be hiding there even in the depths of acquired prejudice and hate.
Because no one is born hating.
Let’s celebrate together what makes us all human, or “only human.”
Let’s raise our glasses to friendship, creativity, inclusion, the “imperfections” we embrace. Maybe sing or recite. This is your chance to take the stage and tell us about an embarrassing or enlightening moment you had as a human being – via lyrics, prose or improvisation. Something you wish you could’ve done differently or feel you did particularly right. Times inner beauty took your breath away. Remarkable (mis)understandings.
This theme, “I’m only human,” is pretty broad. You can perform an original piece or someone else’s. You don’t even have to perform, of course; as always, hanging out and having a good time is the most important part at our Cocktail Open Mic.
We have exciting featured acts taking the stage this time, too.
Music headliners:
Opera on Tap Leipzig
“Opera on Tap, a non-profit organisation run by some aspiring artists, has come to Leipzig to drag opera out of the house for a night on the town. Performers joke with the audience, switching between German and English, giving you the juicy back story to their number before launching into song. You don’t need to know the story or speak the language. And the singers have just the keyboard as accompaniment. There’s no mics, no effects; just voices that fill the room, and make your skin tingle. The events are the work of a group of local-based young artists, headed by Natasha and Juan, singers striving to make it in the competitive world of opera. They had both been singing for other chapters of the organisation, in Berlin and Hamburg, respectively. After meeting at a singing course, they decided a bit of Opera on Tap was just what Leipzig needed.” – Review by Grace Vogiatzis
Storytelling headliner:
Julie Schöttner
“Und weiter und fort” / “On and on”
WINNER: 1003 NIGHTS (OF LEIPZIG) CONTEST – FICTION
“A seemingly simple account of a failed after-disco date: ‘We are young, we are beautiful’; ‘I have forgotten what it’s like not to laugh’. It might have happened anywhere in a big city, yet, somehow between the lines, the breath of Leipzig is tangible. A story very much in the present, an epitome of millennial wistfulness, nostalgia, relationship fetus miscarried. I was completely taken by the smooth flow of the story, ‘on and on’, and by the author’s wise, melancholy compassion to her Russian-born, German-bred alter ego and her charming shallow dance partner.” – Review by Svetlana Lavochkina
Host: Peter Seaton-Clark
“Our Master of Ceremonies will be actor, voice over artist, and presenter Peter Seaton-Clark. He can currently be heard as the voice of the Head of the DEA in Netflix’s El Chapo, and was [more] recently seen as an actor on Arte in a somewhat timely series about immigrants. Ironically, as one of the most British people in Leipzig, he has been cast as an American for [several recent] roles. Maybe we can tease him into doing some accents.” – Intro by Maeshelle West-Davies
Cocktail Open Mic Vol. 4:
>> I’m only human <<
Baileo – Tanzpassion Leipzig
Dittrichring 16
04109 Leipzig
Friday, 14 September (EVENT PAGE)
8-8:45 PM: Mingling
8:45-8:55 PM: Intro and 1003 Nights contest prize presentation
8:55-9 PM: HEADLINER >> Julie reads her winning piece
9-9:40 PM: Open stage + surprise dance performance
9:40-9:45 PM: Judge reads a second winning piece from contest
9:45-10:05 PM: Break
10:05-10:40 PM: HEADLINER >> Opera on Tap Leipzig singers
10:40-10:45 PM: Judge reads third winning piece from contest
10:45-11:30 PM: Open stage + mingling
Performers sign up at the door and get in free between 8 and 9 PM, plus one free drink of their choice.
BYOM – bring your own music
4€ cover | 3€ reduced
Includes welcome drink until 9 PM
Part of the proceeds goes to LeipGlo fund
