The Chronic Life |
Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret Perfomance prepared inside the “Masters in Residence” programme Dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya and Natalia Estemirova, Russian writers and human right activists murdered by anonymous thugs in 2006 and 2009 for their opposition to the Chechen conflict. The Chronic Life takes place simultaneously in different countries of Europe in 2031, after the third civil war. Individuals and groups with different backgrounds come together and challenge each other driven by uprooting war and unemployment. A boy arrives from Latin America in search of his father who has inexplicably disappeared. “Stop searching for your father” people tell him while escorting him from door to door. It is neither knowledge nor innocence that saves the boy. A new ignorance helps him to discover his door. Amid the bewilderment of all of us who no longer believe in the unbelievable: that just one victim is worth more than any value. More than God. CHARACTERS: a Black Virgin, the widow of a Basque officer, a Chechen refugee, a Rumanian housewife, a Danish lawyer, a rock musician from the Faroe Islands, a Colombian boy searching for his father disappeared in Europe, an Italian street violinist, two mercenaries. TEXT: Ursula Andkjær Olsen and Odin Teatret ACTORS: Kai Bredholt, Roberta Carreri, Jan Ferslev, Elena Floris, Donald Kitt, Tage Larsen, Sofia Monsalve, Fausto Pro, Iben Nagel Rasmussen, Julia Varley DRAMATURG: Thomas Bredsdorff LITERARY ADVISER: Nando Taviani LIGHT DESIGN: Odin Teatret LIGHTING ADVISER: Jesper Kongshaug SCENIC SPACE: Odin Teatret SCENIC SPACE ADVISERS: Jan de Neergaard, Antonella Diana MUSIC: Traditional and contemporary melodies COSTUMES: Odin Teatret, Jan de Neergaard TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Fausto Pro DIRECTOR’S ASSISTANTS: Raúl Iaiza, Pierangelo Pompa, Ana Woolf DIRECTOR AND DRAMATURGY: Eugenio Barba CO-PRODUCTION: Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium/Holstebro, Grotowski Institute/Wroc³aw, Teatro de La Abadía/Madrid DANISH PREMIERE: 19 September 2011; POLISH PREMIERE: 13 October 2011; SPANISH PREMIERE: 16 May 2012 “The Chronic Life” timeline • 20–26 October 2010: work on a project called “The Collective Mind”, including workshops and rehearsals for a production; more than 40 witnesses took part in the work; • 19 September 2011: Danish premiere of The Chronic Life; • 13–16 October 2011: Polish performances of The Chronic Life; • 16 May 2012: Spanish premiere of The Chronic Life; • 26–28 October 2012: performances of The Chronic Life in Wroc³aw |