En–Knap & Superamas

"Theatre"

50 min

#en–knap group's repertoire#co-productions

2012

The birth of perspective in fifteenth-century Italian painting is not all disconnected from political considerations. Art history has shown us that the first stage in the construction of perspective is not the definition of the vanishing point but the definition of the frame. Painters give us a "framed" and "orderly" view of the world. So, what can we say about the view of the world brought to us by an onslaught of digital images which we are confronted with every day? As it was in the day and age of the Renaissance, it is an enormously political thing. The powers-that-be have well understood that, and they have invested massively in the theatre of new technologies to stage some illusion of politics through the politics of illusion. Theatre is about the representation of a world structured by the politics of illusion. In this context, various extended reality techniques, such as 3D images, avatars and mapping, are used.

The Illusion of Reality

Foto Bianca Brooke Martin
Foto Christophe Demarthe
Foto3 Bianca Brooke Martin
Teater Superamas in EN KNAP

The stage becomes a site of improbable encounters. Real people, fictional characters and avatars meet. Important decisions are taken. A war may be in the making. The stage becomes a theatre of operations. Superamas is interested in the interaction between reality and fiction and the way it operates in representations of contemporary politics. The work seeks to rediscover the reality of comedy and drama behind the illusion of the political.

When the private lives of public figures become the focus of the politics of illusion, when a crown prince's wedding or a first lady's pregnancy become matters of public concern, fiction has already relegated reality to the background. Then again, did Renaissance painters not give their madonnas the features of the women who modelled for them? Superamas plays with true and false stories, navigating between reality and virtuality, constantly attempting to separate politics from its image—or to entangle them even further. The audience, however, is given an opportunity to see clearly: the toolbox is opened before their very eyes.

bio

Superamas is an Austrian-French performance collective founded in 1999, internationally recognised for works that blur the boundaries between contemporary dance, theatre, film, music and popular media. Combining choreographic structures with cinematic language, live performance, documentary strategies and pop-cultural references, their projects critically explore how images, narratives and spectacle shape contemporary perception. Their works have been presented at major theatres, festivals and museums across Europe and internationally, establishing Superamas as one of the key collectives working at the intersection of performance and media culture.

credits

Written and directed by Superamas

Performed by: Lucie Eidenbenz, Karen Lambaek, Lieve de Pourcq, Faris Endris Rahoma, Bahar Temiz and Superamas

Artistic collaboration Iztok Kovač, Gyula Cserepes, Luke Thomas Dunne, Ana Štefanec / Set design, sound and video: Superamas

Light design Henri-Emmanuel Doublier

Motion capture concept and program Pierre Gufflet

3D images design Superamas in collaboration with TechnocITé Mons/Belgium, CCCP/France and Howest Kortrijk/Belgium, Kevin Marien

Real-time 3D engine Pierre Gufflet, Superamas and CCCP/France

Computered 3D animation CCCP/France, Howest Kortrijk/Belgium, Kevin Marien and Superamas

Technical supervisor Pierre Gufflet

Programming consultant Yves Gufflet

Costumes Sofie Durnez

Voices Susan Bentley, Dr. Siham Buhlal, Bianca Brooke Martin, Nabil Rahoma, Prof. Jeffrey Ruda

Workshop Prototoutyp

Stage manager Martin Schwab

Audition En–Knap

Thanks to Sandra Noeth, Bianca Brooke Martin, Asist. Prof. Olga Hazan, Luc Moreau

 

Produced by Superamas & En–Knap Productions

Co-produced by Art Center Vooruit, Belgium; Maribor European Cultural Capital 2012, Slovenia; Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (in the frame of Frankfurter Positionen 2013- eine Initiative der BHF-BANK-Stiftung), Germany; Maison de la Culture d’Amiens – Centre de création et de production, France; Szene Salzburg, Austria; Tanzquartier Wien, Austria; Stereolux, Nantes, France; CECN Manège Mons, Belgium; Impulstanz, Vienna, Austria; EN-KNAP, Ljubljana, Slovenia 

In collaboration with Buda Art Center, Kortrijk, Belgium; La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, France; TechnocITé Mons, Belgium; Howest Kortrijk, Belgium; mokum, Belgium; l’Avant-Seine, Théâtre de Colombes, France; Agglomération Maubeuge-Val de Sambre, Gare Numérique de Jeumont, France; Internationales Figurentheaterfestival Erlangen, Germany

 

En–Knap Productions

Founder and artisic director Iztok Kovač

Head of finance Julija Travančić

Executive producers Karmen Keržar, Marjeta Lavrič

En–Knap Group rehearsal director Tanja Skok

Head of public relations Marija Zidar

Designers nejaaka

Programme coordinator and organiser Katja Gabrijelčič

Technical realization Luka Curk, Hotimir Knific, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne

The work has been funded with support of the European Commission. 

Additionally supported by: The City of Vienna, Austria; Ministry of Education, Art and Culture, Austria; Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles d’Ile-de-France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, France; DICRéAM, Centre National du cinéma et de l’image animée, France; l’Institut Français, Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes in the frame of the "Théâtre export" program, France; apap – performinmg europe!, EU; Austrian Cultural Forum in Brussels, Pôle Images Nord-Pas de Calais (avec le soutien du Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais, de Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine et du Centre Régional de Ressources Audiovisuelles Nord-Pas de Calais), France; ONDA-office national de diffusion artistique