Baal & Dix

how Jewish, Queer, and Femme identities manifested in arts of the Weimar Republic

Meet Bertolt Brecht and Degenerate painter Otto Dix. Kinda. Fact or fantasy? Either way, they’re yours to devour. Sing rousing songs, witness delicate movement sequences, touch your muse, and queer the facts. Lift a stein at Philly’s only Authentic German Beer Hall and meet us in the bathroom. Baal & Dix is a new immersive work that looks at prominent masculine artists of the Weimar Republic to explore how Jewish, Queer, and Femme identities manifested in the work. Live performers and pre-recorded video combine in this mixed media immersive performance piece. What do we do with “problematic” artists who are considered the masters of their field? How do we separate our response to the artwork from the human beings who created it? What if we like some of this toxic work? What does that say about us? Are we ok? Bertolt Brecht and Otto Dix are undeniably powerful and pervasive artists who left a huge footprint on their respective fields. Both had problematic relationships with women, nationalism, and sex work. Both used cultures outside of their own to exotify their work. Both had an unexamined affinity with homoeroticism and queerness embedded into their worship of the masculine. So what do we do with them? Baal & Dix invites you to peel off the rind and spit out the seeds in this new immersive piece. All performances will be held at Brauhaus Schmitz. Grab a beer before, during, or after the performance. Brauhaus boasts the World’s Largest German beer selection with 34 rotating drafts with another 100 German Flaschenbier (Bottles). Between the beer, the songs, the bad accents, and the ill-advised use of suspenders, Baal & Dix promises visitors a not-completely unproblematic dive into two of Germany’s premier artists. There will be sausage. Prost!... Show More