Installation

I AM (VR)

Susanne Kennedy – Markus Selg – – Rodrik Biersteker

March 16 – 20, 2022

Italian Premiere

Susanne Kennedy, winner of the 14th Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities and one of the most original artists on the world scene, is for the first time presenting one of her works in Italy. In a present in which the boundaries between the virtual and the real are becoming increasingly blurred, how do we equip ourselves to distinguish the truth of things from the way they appear in our perception? In I AM (VR), Susanne Kennedy and multimedia artist Markus Selg (in collaboration with Rodrik Biersteker) experiment with the possibilities of immersive theatre, exploring new, richer dimensions. The spectators are invited to dive into a virtual world: by means of a VR headset, they become participants of a meditative journey which leads them to a mysterious encounter with an oracle. The experience is a psychedelic trip, a total theatrical experience that seems to know no outside.

Susanne Kennedy studied direction at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Amsterdam and debuted on the Dutch stage. In 2011 she was invited to work at the Münchner Kammerspiele. For Fegefeuer in Ingolstadt she was voted Young Director of the Year by Theater Heute Magazine in 2013. In recent years she has been based at Volksbühne Berlin and Münchner Kammerspiele. She has produced Ultraworld and Oracle with Markus Selg in 2020. In her works, distorted by masks, playback dialogue, doppelgängers and multimedia, the actors confront the audience with a question: what does it mean to be human?

Markus Selg is a multimedia artist exploring the dynamics between archaic myth and computer technology in forms of digital painting, sculpture, immersive installations, theatre and VR. Selection of exhibitions / performances: Coming Society and Ultraworld (2019/2020) at Volksbühne Berlin. For Ultraworld he received the Faust Award 2020 for best stage design. He has been active across a variety of genres and languages, including performing art, film and opera productions.

Rodrik Biersteker studied Design for Virtual Theater and Games at the HKU University of Arts in Utrecht. He is an interdisciplinary artist who primarily uses video and interactive technologies in a theatrical context. In recent years, there have been numerous collaborations with Susanne Kennedy in productions for the Ruhrtriennale, Münchner Kammerspiele and Volksbühne Berlin, the latest being Ultraworld(2020) for which he and Markus Selg were awarded the Faust Prize for best stage/video design.

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Info

March 16 – 20 Wednesday – Sunday Every 30 minutes from 11.30 am to 8.30 pm Running time 35’ In English or Japanese with a side text in Italian

Credits

concept, design: Susanne Kennedy, Markus Selg, Rodrik Biersteker programming: Rodrik Biersteker visual design: Markus Selg, Rodrik Biersteker sound design, composition: Richard Janssen text: Susanne Kennedy dramaturgy: Tobias Staab voices: Susanne Kennedy, Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, Frank Willens, Ibadet Ramadani avatars: Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, Benjamin Radjaipour, Thomas Hauser costumes: Teresa Vergho production: Ultraworld Productions management, distribution: Something Great co-production: Berliner Festspiele, Hybrid Box, Hellerau – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel, Münchner Kammerspiele, Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts & Society, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Oval Office, Theater Commons Tokyo, Volkstheater Wien thanks to: Chiaki Soma, Christoph Gurk, the whole Oracle Team, Rafael Steinhauser, Anna Rausch, Lucas S. Maximiliano, Matthias Lilienthal In collaboration with: Goethe-Institut Mailand