A performance in the cell block of Rennelberg Prison. Two performers are standing on a flight of stairs behind metal bars. Blue stage lighting and fog create a dense atmosphere. A drum kit is set up on the floor in the foreground.
A performance in the cell block of Rennelberg Prison. A performer in a dark suit speaks or sings into a microphone. He stands behind metal bars and dangling cables. Warm and blue stage lights illuminate the scene.
A performance in the cell block of Rennelberg Prison. A performer stands behind metal bars, gazing solemnly ahead. Warm side lighting illuminates her face, whilst the background is bathed in blue stage lighting.

THE LONG SHORT HISTORY OF PEACE

Nicoleta Esinencu / teatru-spălătorie

Chișinău

Who is paying the price for peace in Europe? In May of 2025, state and government leaders of the European Union celebrated 80 years of peace – and did so while wars supported by European weapons exports were being waged on the margins of Europe. In the agitprop music-theatre performance THE LONG SHORT HISTORY OF PEACE, the collective teatru-spălătorie tells the story of these years of peace and the story of the people who have to pay the price for it. In a three-storey cell block, they will unleash the hammering sounds of ruthless interest-driven politics, while firing fast, sharp texts at the walls of the prison and the brutal reality of capitalism. What remains of the ideal of European peace – has it been 80 years of peace or 80 years of brutal capitalism?

 

teatru-spălătorie is a queer feminist theatre collective, which was founded in 2010 in Moldova. Their plays grapple with power relations between Eastern and Western Europe, with the patriarchy and the neoliberal capitalist system. Their works move between agitprop theatre, a concert and performance art, and draw on a unique musical practice and aesthetic that combines spoken word with influences from punk, industrial and electronica. They were guests at Festival Theaterformen in 2022 with Sinfonie des Fortschritts.

Production credits

A performance by teatru-spălătorie collective: Nicoleta Esinencu, Doriana Talmazan, Kira Semionov, Nora Dorogan, Artiom Zavadovsky, Translation: Yvonne Griesel, Photos: China Hopson