Maya Alban-Zapata

Portrait performances are risky. For the theatre and for the artists. This applies to professionals as well. And Maya Alban-Zapata is a professional: Paris bequeathed her a dramatic stage, and Berlin gave her a big mouth; in drama school, she learned fencing, everyday racism taught her to fight, and in show business, she fought her way through, enjoying everything from musicals to the opening act for MIKA; on German stages, she competes with big names, and as a mother of two, she knows that the future must be fought for. Nothing is given.


If you’re lucky, you grow from it. If you have connections that help you grow: avant-garde grandmothers, temporary fathers, musical role models, cosmopolitan environments, Afro-diasporic networks. Diverse interconnections – for the diaspora, the trait d’union is likely central, the link that connects Afro and Berliner, art and resistance, A and Z.


Maya Alban-Zapata carries this link in her name. Can one create a solo performance based on connections? Maybe. The only expectation here is: Show what matters to you! This is the risk and the enjoyment.


With the PORTRAIT series, where artists introduce themselves and their work, Ballhaus Naunynstraße interrupts the usual production process. Here, it’s not about the role profile, about what one has always done, because directors and producers see it “in” you, but rather it’s about what one wants to tell. PORTRAIT offers the space to showcase oneself, one’s talents, one’s art, and what truly matters to you.

PORTRAIT is an invitation to the audience to meet artists and experience the complexity of their art. This season, Ballhaus Naunynstraße is premiering five new portrait performances.