The Review – ART-YES! theatre (maybe)
“I’m not an actor, I’m a bleeding artist.” How can I really be today? How to experience the flow of energy not only on stage, when we are facing an almost biblical crisis in communication? Everything is possible, but we create a sense of community and belonging only through artificial substitutes. These and other questions permeate the production of YES! (maybe) students of the Swiss HKB.
Black rehearsal room walls. A bright white cross on the floor – perhaps a fashion catwalk, perhaps an integral part of a mystical ceremony, perhaps the beginning of a long journey. A platform cart with Persian rugs. Cultural industry. An Oscar. Rose petals in a children’s sandpit. Theatricality. Bowl of blood. Spirituality. Crimson. Blood. Life. Body. Again and again…
Although it doesn’t seem like it at first, together with the three performers (Jeanne Le Moign, Marc Scheufen, Millie Vikanis) we embark on a post-dramatic Stations of the Cross reflecting the sorrows and hardships of contemporary theatre. It consists of many stops, it is provocative, disturbing, critical, sometimes even obscene. It also partially draws us into the creative process itself, when the performers decide whether to follow a well-trodden path of pleasing theatrical shows and consumerism, or to choose the thornier one aiming for something real, valuable (and discover oneself at the same time). The production is also full of intertextual allusions to well-known philosophers or artists – names like Adorno, Schlingensief, Brook, Fabre will be heard. Don’t know them? “Then why don’t you just check Wikipedia?” Estrangement effects are also included – Ada (Jeanne Le Moign) talks about her character in the third person and repeats her speeches, and at the same time transforms her acting with grotesque colourfulness. Similarly, Kurt (Marc Scheufen) delivers Hamlet’s monologue with captivating impressiveness, but immediately afterwards simply goes for a cigarette.
What is it all about? To die effectively downstage and in a palatial robe? NO! At the end of the production, the performers try to revive the connection with invisible spectators. All three appear in simple white costumes and with masks of big anime cartoon eyes on their own. In this way, they only underline their desire to see, to see the audience, even if they themselves are trapped in a camera – on a chip. Only Inna (Millie Vikanis) stubbornly moves something that can hardly be moved through her jerky movements of a puppet – she pays for it with her blood and real pain. A harsh metaphor for today’s sexuality, for our urge for the “normal”, at the same time a cleansing ritual. All in one. We have to expose ourselves to the marrow to be real. YES! (maybe) For me, definitely: YES! And your decision?
Dana Hlaváčová (DAMU)