Elena Lach & Ema Benčíková
Spacing in: Relaxed Performance Lab
for autistic and neuroqueer attendants
During this weekend autistic and neuroqueer beings interested in performance and theatre will come together. While collectively stimming and resting we will think about the questions: What is neuroqueer culture and how can brut Wien sustainably support it? How can we feel relaxed and at ease in the theatre? We will talk with artists and technicians and play around with light, sound, seating and other practicalities of the theatre. There will be the possibility to enjoy a relaxed drag show by the disabled artists from Dragsau.
Relax, take it easy. Take a nap with us. Snooze, rest, stim, commune – it’s crip time.
In this three-day relaxed performance lab we want to delve deeper into our bodies and into the space that surrounds us. How can we make the cultural space of brut comfortable for neurodivergence? What can we construct to support our complex embodiment? What can brut Wien implement in their infrastructure to make access possible? What do we need in our bodies? How can we rest and ease sensory overstimulation?
We will be combining somatic exercises and collective design practices into a lab for our neuroqueer bodyminds. We invite you to participate in our three-day research into the specificities of neurodivergent accessibility in performance – be it for performers or audiences. We also invite you to join us at the relaxed drag performance by the disabled artists from Dragsau on Sat. 15.11. from 19:00 to 21:00.
Our aim is to explore, question, and collectively create a structure that can sustainably support neuroqueer, neurodivergent and autistic people interested in performance and theater. Spacing in: Relaxed Performance Lab desires to be a playful form of groundwork that uncovers the needs and means of accommodation in our community.
While collectively stimming and unmasking we will think about the question: What is neuroqueer culture and how can institutions support it?
To plan the three-day lab more precisely according to the participants’ experiences and expectations, there will be a kick-off meeting on Mon. 27.10. from 18:00 to 20:00 for a first get to know meeting.
Elena Lach (they/she) lives in Vienna and works as a performer, personal assistant and assistant director. They explore the queer use of public space in site-specific performance. Their participatory installation SPACE HOLDER, which aims to enable access to queer parties for neurodivergent people, has been featured at flucc and 4lthangrund. As part of the Careful Collisions Collective, they create queer-centred movement spaces for contact improvisation. Elena Lach loves questions, non-verbal communication, and practices social awkwardness as survival strategy and relational practice.
Ema Bencikova (she/they) is a Vienna based curator, theatre director and care worker. In their artistic research they focus on critical phenomenology of non-normative embodiment through methods of institutional constructivism and infrastructural analysis of mutual aid between the trans and crip communities. From 2019 to 2024, she was the director of a neurodivergent community theater Stopy Snov in Bratislava. In 2025, she curated exhibitions at ŠKUC Gallery in Ljubljana and at Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna. Last year, she was a fellow of the intersectional organization kültüř gemma!.
Accessibility
Registration for assistants, accompanying persons and assistance dogs is possible via the registration form as well as at brehm@brut-wien.at or via WhatsApp +43 676 587 8723.
We offer a pick-up service from the nearby tram and bus stations so that everyone can find their way to brut nordwest. Please let us know at brehm@brut-wien.at or by phone and WhatsApp on +43 676 587 8723 and we will be happy to pick you up.
Participants will be provided with lunch/dinner (vegan/vegetarian) for the entire duration of the workshop.
Alternative seating and lying options
If you have any questions, please contact Katrin Brehm (brehm@brut-wien.at and +43 676 587 8723).
Links & Social
Dates & Tickets
Spacing in: Relaxed Performance Lab is already fully booked. It is still possible to be placed on a waiting list. To do so, please contact Katrin Brehm directly by email at brehm@brut-wien.at.
If the participation fees are a hurdle for you, please contact Katrin Brehm – by email at brehm@brut-wien.at or by phone and WhatsApp at +43 676 587 8723. We will find a solution so that everyone can participate.
November 2025
Booked out
Booked out
Booked out
brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
accessible
Info
To plan the three-day lab more precisely according to the participants’ experiences and expectations, there will be a kick-off meeting on Mon. 27.10. from 18:00 to 20:00 for a first get to know meeting.
On Sat. 15.11. from 19:00 to 21:00 there will be the possibility to enjoy a relaxed drag show by the disabled artists from Dragsau. Pay as you can, recommended between 8 and 15 euro. More
Event recommendations
Drag Show with the Dragsau Collective
as part of Spacing in: Relaxed Performance Lab
Touch tour
for An Evening with by Alex Franz Zehetbauer
brut all over Vienna
brut nordwest
accessible
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)
accessible
studio brut
not accessible
Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)
not accessible
Bears in the Park Art Place
not accessible
Eyzinggasse 12, 1110 Vienna
U-Bahn: U3 (Gasometer) Bus: 72A (Gasometer), 76A, 76B (Simoningplatz)
not accessible
WUK performing arts
barrierefrei
Währinger Straße 59, 1090 Vienna
Subway: U6 (Währinger Straße / Volksoper), Tram: 40, 41, 42 (Währinger Straße / Volksoper), 5, 33 (Spitalgasse), 37, 38, 40, 41, 42 (Spitalgasse / Währinger Straße)
Der Betrieb
accessible
Vogelweidplatz 13, 1150 Wien
Subway: U6 (Burggasse-Stadthalle) / Bus: 48A (Moeringgasse) / Tram: 9 (Camillo Sitte Gasse)