Strings Attached is a theatre company that was founded in 2001 by Mark Johnson and David Hönigsberg. At the time, both were teachers at Institut Montana, a private boarding school in Zug, Switzerland. Almost all Strings Attached shows have been written and directed by Mark Johnson. David Hönigsberg composed and played original music for the first three shows until his untimely death in February 2005.
The orginal members of the company were all recent graduates of Institut Montana who had taken part in the school’s extensive theatre program and had expressed a desire to pursue a career in the arts. They included Géraldine Dulex, Alice Fiedler, Salomé Golliez, and Alex Hedinger. Kate Hönigsberg also played a significant role in the company’s early shows.
The explicit mission of the company from the very beginning has been to produce original shows with Swiss themes that include live, original music. Virtually all full-company shows have followed these guidelines.
The very first Strings Attached show was The Last Pagan in the Valley (2002), which premiered in Switzerland in German and then later that year in English at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was inspired by the so-called “houses of the pagans,” built centuries ago onto the sides of cliffs overlooking the Blenio Valley in southern Switzerland.
The second show September 12th or the Black Spider (2003) was also performed both in Switzerland and at the Edinburgh Fringe. This show dealt with the 18th Century Swiss minister Johann Caspar Lavater and the equally well-known Swiss novella “The Black Spider.”
The next show The Moaning Silence of Fish (2004) was the first of three Strings Attached shows to deal with Dada, the art movement that began in Zürich, Switzerland at the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916. This show was also performed both in Switzerland and at the Edinburgh Fringe. It was at this time that David Wylie first became part of the company. Since 2004 he has been in charge of all technical aspects ofStrings Attached’’s shows as well as composing music used by the company.
In 2005 the next show with a Dada theme Die Klagen einer Flamme was performed in German at the Avignon Off Festival as well as in Switzerland, notably at the newly-reopened Cabaret Voltaire.
The company was back at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 with 1913 or Nude Descending a Staircase and the one-woman show Fawn, which was written and performed by Géraldine Dulex. “1913…” was based on events described in a stack of old Swiss newspapers from that year, most notably the amazing story of Countess Maria Tarnowska. Both Sarah Volage Bellin and Eliane Iten joined the company at the time of this show.
The last full-company show, and the third with a Dada theme, was Dada kam vor Voltaire, produced and performed as part of the Zürich Festspiele in June 2016, which were in part dedicated to commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dada. This show was both designed and directed by Sarah Bellin. Many new faces joined Strings Attached for this production, most notably Stefan Kollmuss, another Institut Montana alumnus, and Stefan Schönholzer.
Since 2006 Mark Johnson has been writing and performing one-man shows almost yearly at summer festivals in Edinburgh, Avignon, and once even in Adelaide. The first show was Confessions of a Cultural Spy and the most recent one was About ‘Bits and Pieces’ – a New Bride of Frankenstein Film, which was performed at the Avignon Off Festival in July 2019.
All Strings Attached productions have been designed to be very visual, whether employing physical theatre techniques in the early shows or using many objects, images, and films as in the later Mark Johnson one-man shows.
At the moment, Mark Johnson and David Wylie are creating a series of short films tentatively designated to be shown at the Avignon Off Festival in July 2021. Many of them will, however, premiere on this website.
Since the first show in 2002, a few organizations have given invaluable support to Strings Attached. In the early years, the performance space “Spinnihalle” in Baar, Switzerland provided a wonderful venue for the company’s shows, as well as much-needed rehearsal space during the summer months.
But by far the greatest supporter of Strings Attached over the years has been The Garage International, which has hosted virtually all of the company’s shows,
whether in Edinburgh, Avignon, or Adelaide. Shakti and her team have contributed significantly to making Strings Attached what it is today and will be in the future.
Please find below a list of all Strings Attached productions.
2OO2 Die Letzte Heidin im Tal and The Last Pagan in
the Valley (Kulturhaus Rats in Zürich, Switzerland; Osteria "Tre Vie" in Motto/Blenio, Switzerland; Spinnihalle in Baar, Switzerland; Edinburgh Fringe Festival).
Raritäten aus der Fundgrube (Spinnihalle in Baar, Switzerland).
2003 September 12th or the Black Spider (Edinburgh
Fringe Festival; Spinnihalle, Baar, Switzerland).
Die Letzten Tage von Johann Caspar Lavater or The
Language of Heaven (Spinnihalle, Baar).
2OO4 The Moaning Silence of Fish (Edinburgh Fringe Festival;
Spinnihalle, Baar).
2005 Die Klagen einer Flamme (Avignon Off Festival; Cabaret
Voltaire, Zürich, Switzerland; Chollerhalle, Zug, Switzerland).
2006 Confessions of a Cultural Spy (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2OO7 Confessions of a Cultural Spy (Avignon Off Festival)
2008 Confessions of a Cultural Spy (Adelaide Fringe Festival)
1913 or Nude Descending a Staircase (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
Fawn (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2OO9 Fifi and the Fast Dancer or Chiens Parisiens et
Sauvages Américains (Avignon Off Festival)
2O11 The American Vice or the Dos and Don'ts of
Cannibalism and Le Vice Américain ou les Bons et Mauvais
Usages du Cannibalisme (Avignon Off Festival)
2O12 The Moose and the Bear (Avignon Off Festival)
2O13 If You Would Know the Peacock (Avignon Off Festival)
2O14 Confessions of a Cultural Spy 2014 (Avignon Off Festival)
2015 A Cat, a Bat, and Some Executioners (Avignon Off Festival)
2016 Dada kam vor Voltaire (Zürich Festspiele)
2017 The Real Demoiselles d’Avignon (Avignon Off Festival)
2018 The Real Demoiselles d’Avignon 2018 (Avignon Off Festival)
2019 About ‘Bits and Pieces’ – a New Bride of Frankenstein Film (Avignon Off Festival)