Is Angela working tonight?
a dystopian club night at Club Oblivion
We live in a time when safety is no longer a given, but an ideological battlefield shaped by protocols, policies, campaigns, and ethical codes. Society piles on layers of protection in an attempt to neutralize risks. We are also growing aware that safety is never neutral. Who is protected, who is controlled, and who decides?
At the same time, nightlife is at the forefront of unique systems and training to promote (the feeling of) safety. For example, the discreet question in code to report any unsafe situations to bar staff: "Is Angela working tonight?"
This undercover request for help is the starting point for the cross-disciplinary and queer-minded performance cartel RELNACHT, which will develop the project "Is Angela Working Tonight?" (IAWT?) in the fall of 2026. This timely work is an ongoing performance installation about safety and control, but also power and revenge. In short: a reflection on our contemporary safety obsession in the setting of a dystopian club night at Club Oblivion.
SYNAPSIS
Is Angela Working Tonight? is a performative sound installation that immerses the visitor in a single night at Club Oblivion. In a continuous 75-minute loop, the dramaturgy of a club night unfolds repeatedly, driven by two characters: Angèle and Elodie. Through soundscapes, vocals, scenes, confessionals, and musical textures, a spatial sound design emerges on ten channels, making the clubbing experience audible. From nervously queuing to getting lost at the afterparty. Visitors are welcome to stay as long as they like.
RESEARCH
IAWT? builds on thorough preliminary research (Safety Sirens, 2025) within the New Makers Scheme of the Performing Arts Fund NL, consisting of: a series of interviews with national and international night workers (bar staff, floor angels, door hosts, club managers); the concept album Safety Sirens by RELNACHT (in collaboration with six producers); the accompanying academic research into sapphism and queerness within the myth of the sirens and the subsequent master's thesis ‘HOW SAPPHIC SONGS SLAY’ by performer Hélène Vrijdag; and prototypes and try-outs of the immersive set and spatial sound design.