What does it mean to age as a woman when the pursuit of eternal youth operates as cultural norm? Western societies claim to value longevity but only register old age positively when it appears youthful. The contradiction defines contemporary attitudes toward aging, particularly for women whose value gets measured against diminishing returns.
Eva Meyer-Keller's "Turn The P/Age" addresses this directly. The performance examines cultural dialogue around aging, women's health, and medical history. Developed with performers Lisa Densem, Claudia Splitt, and Rhyannon Styles, the work challenges prevailing stereotypes and attempts to shake up established perspectives.
The piece operates through performance rather than lecture, using bodies and presence to investigate what gets erased or distorted in conversations about aging women. Medical history treats women's aging bodies as problems requiring intervention. Popular culture positions youth as the only desirable state. The performance puts pressure on these frameworks, asking what gets lost when age only registers as decline.
Meyer-Keller works with a collaborative team: dramaturgical collaboration with Irina Müller, outside eye from Bettina Knaup, light design by Annegret Schalke, music by Rico Lee, costume by Sara Wendt. The credits matter because they show how the work builds through multiple perspectives rather than single authorship. Production management by Susanne Beyer.
The performance takes place at Sophiensæle's Festsaal across two evenings: Friday March 21 and Saturday March 22, both starting at 18:00. The venue location in Berlin positions the work within a city where conversations about aging, healthcare, and cultural norms already circulate through activist and artistic communities.
"Turn The P/Age" enters ongoing discourse about how societies treat aging, particularly aging that happens in female bodies. The work does not offer solutions but creates space to examine assumptions, question medical narratives, and consider what perspectives remain marginalized in mainstream conversations about getting older.
March 21-22, 18:00. Sophiensæle, Berlin. Tickets Via https://sophiensaele.com/en/stueck/turn-the-page