art as reserch

What would you do if you could be reborn in any body at any place? What would you do if you could choose your gender? Your lifespan? From one minute to eternity? If you could choose your surroundings? Sea? Desert? Palm-trees? If you could pick the people around you? If you could build a community from scratch? What would you do with the given hardships in your society?

If you could move around four different stages of human existence – would you? If you could join us in a crossover between science, installation, performance lecture – would you? If you could save someone – would you? Whom? Yourself? Or somebody else?

IF is a cross-over genre: a participative performance using 4 interactive installations, which invite the audience into different levels of action and interaction, by choosing life-circumstances: gender, lifespan, friends, relations, society and future. A performer leads the whole game of existence, orientating the audience among the rules of the games, reacts and responds to their actions, and, at well-defined moments, acts out roles related to the 4 stages-installations-games. Participants can choose at each stage the level of their activity from watching to acting.

Duration: 90 mins.

Language: English.

TEAM:

Rita Sebestyen (RO/HU/DK): writer and director

Minni Katina Mertens (NO/DK): performer

Sara Vilardo (IT/BE/DK): performer

Ivan Wahren (SE): light and sound designer

Mira Nadina Mertens (NO/DK): dramaturge

Stine Ebbesen (DK): videos and documentation

Trine Heller (DK): graphic design

music courtesy of Ya Tosiba

Premiere: Bådteatret (16-21 October 2017), and: Actor Training in a Globalized World (24 October 2017).

The performance is approved by the Danish Arts Fund (Statens Kunst Fond) for the communication and ticket sale scheme (billetkøbsordningen).

“As an audience member you are free to participate to the degree you wish; as such you can observe the action or take part in it by playing. It is a quirky analogy to the real world – I would, however, recommend that you, as far as possible, allow yourself to participate actively to make the most of the experience. (…) The performance is thought-provoking, exceptionally thought-provoking even. (…) I would readily recommend this little philosophical piece as it offers a great opportunity to reflect. I was entertained!” Original review in Danish by Sofie Herdorf Krøyer, scenekanten.com, 20 October, 2017.

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Research and performance details + technical rider. By Stine Ebbesen.

SOUND!

How can we relate within a short time, how we communicate, if our background is different, and we do not even speak the same language?
Are we curious about each other at all? If yes, how we pose questions, and how we answer them?
How we tell our own stories, and what kind of stories we tell about ourselves?
How do we ask the others about their stories, and what kind of other stories will we be able to process, to understand? Whom can we empathise with and why?
How can we get more empathetic and communicative?

The endless series of questions were not answered, not even asked. This time, we inhabited the space, we moved around, we perceived it and ourselves and each other. Movements, gestures, sound became of high importance in establishing connection.
Sounds, the beat of the drums were able to express a wide range of emotions, feelings, and even could tell simple stories. Owning stories and narratives are the cornerstone of empowerment, self-empowerment and the ability to relate.

This workshop was offered within the framework of a Europe for Citizens programme: You Are Welcome, having 13 partners in 7 countries around Europe.

Participants: unaccompanied refugee minors and students from the Nordsjællands Efterskole.

Time: 7th and 10th March 2018.

Led by: Rita Sebestyen

Lead organizer from Gribskov: Lisbeth Eckhardt-Hansen

Assistant: Marin Hermanssdottir

Othernessproject, Gribskov Center – Red Cross, Nordsjællands Efterskole, You Are Welcome, Europe for Citizens.