Traumboy

Daniel is a sex worker. In the solo performance Traumboy he reports on his experiences as a male prostitute. Without shame, honestly and interactively. He talks about the reasons for choosing this profession, describes his clients and their desires. The audience meets a young man who prostitutes himself deliberately. The only problem: the stigma that comes with it. Having sex with strangers for money is still considered a taboo.

Traumboy questions the double standards of our capitalistic and hypersexualized society. The focus on male prostitution allows to evade the customary narrative about exploitation and suffering of vulnerable women and addresses more subtle power relations.

The performer’s body turns into a projection surface for fears, fantasies and contradictions. He slips into different roles that he plays for his customers – or for the audience? With this ambiguous self-staging the spectators are challenged to scrutinize their sexual ideals and to take a close look at the sexual being that they consider themselves. Are the boundaries in your mind where you expect them?

credits

Concept & performance: Daniel Hellmann
Dramaturgy: Wilma Renfordt
Third eye: Ivan Blagajcevic
Set & costume design: Theres Indermaur
Sound design: Leo Hofmann
Light design: Gioia Scanzi
Production management: Daniela Lehmann
Tour management: Florence Francisco
Translation: Melanie Jame Wolf
Production: 3art3
Co-production: Theaterhaus Gessnerallee & Festspiele Zürich
With the support of Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Pro Helvetia Schweizer Kulturstiftung, Migros Kulturprozent, Nestlé Fondation pour l’Art, Schweizer Tanzarchiv – Preis für Videodokumentation, wpZimmer Antwerpen