Nobody cared about Helen is a full-length dance performance about violence as a structuring principle that shapes bodies, language, and social order. Drawing on the Iliad, Homer’s ancient Greek epic about the Trojan War, as well as French philosopher Simone Weil’s essay The Iliad, or the Poem of Force, the piece creates a landscape in which violence in interpersonal relationships takes on an almost tangible quality — capable of transforming a person’s entire being. It traces the effects of violence far beyond the battlefield and into everyday life.

Through the stories of figures from Greek tragedy, the piece seeks to dissolve the comfortable distance between mythological narratives and contemporary life, revealing resonances between canonical works and the social, political, and intimate structures of the present.

Chelsea
Clementine
Cordelia
Dora
Nadja

The performers of nobody cared about Helen populate this landscape with identities of their own and borrowed ones, haunted by an absent figure in whose name — supposedly — a war is being fought.

By weaving language and movement into a porous narrative of truth and storytelling, the piece explores power relations not only on a physical level, but also between language and what unfolds on stage. It raises questions about authorship, narrative framing, and the perception of “truth.”

Concept, Choreography & Artistic Direction: Smadar Goshen
Co-Choreography & Dramaturgy: Maya Weinberg
Performance & Artistic Collaboration: Chelsea Reichart, Clémentine Herveux, Nadja Tabea Güsewell, Cordelia Eleonore, Dora Almeleh
Costume & Set Design: Anna Mirkin
Original Music: Sabrina Schray
Music Production: Sabrina Schray, Paul-Maximilian Schwarz
Technical Direction & Lighting Design: Nadja Weber
Graphic Design: Sara Tartsch
Project Management: Valentine Leuschel
Financial Management: Christine Koschel
Press & Communications: Maya Mayzel
Production & Choreography Assistance / Internship: Antonia Ziebritzki

Nobody cared about Helen is a production by Smadar Goshen in cooperation with Theater RAMPE.

Supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart; through the concept development funding programme of the Baden-Württemberg State Association of Independent Dance and Theatre Professionals (LaFT BW) e.V., with funds from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts; by Freie Tanz- und Theaterszene Stuttgart gUG; and by the Péter Horváth Foundation.

With the kind support of Produktionszentrum Tanz und Performance Stuttgart and Auktionen Münzhandlung Sonntag.

Special thanks to Nachtsicht e.V. for their support.