Where do we go with the pain we carry in us?

Since ancient times, humans have sought healing in the collective wisdom of circles – a circle that is always as wise and strong as the shared experiences of its participants.

In times of collective and individual trauma, climate anxiety, and a growing sense of disconnection from our surroundings, director Lisa Brüning invites you into a ritual. In a series of three connected circles, we gently meet the pain we carry within us – and play with the idea that our pain is interconnected and cannot be resolved alone.

The Circles explores radical care and honesty as acts of resistance in a world where we are used to suppressing pain. At the centre of a society that is well, stands the exchange on what moves us inwardly as human beings. What would a society look like, however, if we were truly in contact with one another?

The performative ritual provides a safe space where pain does not need to be analysed, resolved, or fixed. It simply needs to be expressed, met, and handed over into the caring hands of a stranger – a group of people that comes after us. In a ritual in three parts, we become part of a larger dramaturgy on the recycling of collective pain.

First Circle: WOUND – Embracing Pain // 08. maj 2026
Participants place their current deepest personal, social, or environmental pain in the center of a circle.

Second Circle: CARE – Taking Caring Action // 09. maj 2026
Participants take care of a stranger’s pain, which has been left before them.

Third Circle: FREE – Setting Pain Free // 10. maj 2026
Participants set all collected pain free into the sea in a closing ritual.

The Circles can be experienced as a connected series or as three independent rituals.

Sign up here