The hour of the barbarians

January - March 2023. When Josep Borrell said that Europe is a garden, the rest of the world is a jungle, the artist asked herself questions about the people who live in this jungle and seem to threaten us. She recalled a poem by K. Kavafi, whom she had seen quoted several times recently on the Internet. The poem is called "Waiting for the Barbarians." The artist thought that the people from the jungle could probably be called "barbarians" in the sense of Borrell's statement, and she took a closer look at the poem. If Kavafi's words are to be believed, the barbarians will not come, but they could have been a solution. What does that even mean? In the third research, which she devotes to the chorus of voices on the Internet, which she considers the equivalent of the chorus of ancient Greek theater, the artist wants to go in search of these barbarians. The chorus often mentions it in connection with a turning point that it sees coming. The statements about it, which are first collected, could become the starting point for a theater text.

A play is in the works, titled "The Hour of the Barbarians."

About the unspeakable

January 2022. The research "On the Unspeakable" follows on from the research "After the Plague", which last year became the starting point for the creation of a theatre work of the same name. Within the framework of this internet research, it was not possible to penetrate far below the surface of the researched reservoir of thoughts, there was not enough time for that. Now the speech, which often manifests itself as a "speech of the unspeakable", will be explored in more detail. Addressing the General Assembly in N.Y. last September, António Guterrez said, "We are on the edge of an abyss and moving in the wrong direction". His words are similar to many statements found on the internet today. Quite a few people seem to be waiting for a catastrophe, but disagree on what it should look like. Amidst the tectonic shifts that are the norm on the internet, there is endless discussion. The research aims to give an unpolished picture of this discussion. The search for an artistic form that would subsequently be able to realise this image is also part of the research.

A hybrid book (literature/theater) is in the works.

After the plague

January 2021. It's hard not to think that time has stopped or imploded with the appearance of Corona. Probably no one can yet fully imagine the consequences of the social rupture we are currently experiencing. Will everything ever be the same? The research project "After the Plague" will try to trace processes that have emerged in society since a year ago. Many epidemics brought radical changes in people's lives and the plague is a clear symbol of this in Europe - hence the title of the project. The place of research will be the internet. The focus will be on the question of what the people who express themselves there, mostly anonymously, are actually saying. Another question will be whether this speaking can be seen as an equivalent to the chorus of ancient Greek theatre, which incidentally also wore masks.

Based on the material collected in the course of the research on various topics, a theatre text has been created with the same title as the research. This text will be premiered at the Hamburger Sprechwerk on 14 October and can be read below.

Info about the performance: click here