He is a man who indulges in a little happiness – a holiday from the hardships of the world of work on an island of contentment. He has all he needs to do so: leisure in abundance, his own little house, a well-grown palm tree and a lovely swan. He thus enjoys what he thinks he deserves – but then the sky opens its floodgates. Meg Stuart created this solo in a cardboard paradise for Portuguese dancer and choreographer Francisco Camacho back in 2007. This time around, new layers have been added to the work, which has since become a classic. It shows how quickly unforeseen events can cause our world of artificial gimmicks, stereotypical roles and shoddy superficialities to collapse. This holiday in the sunshine, in any case, mutates into a relentless struggle for the preservation of an unsustainable normality.
Choreography: Meg Stuart
Created with and performed by: Francisco Camacho, Kotomi Nishiwaki & Abraham Hurtado
Music: Hahn Rowe
Dramaturgy: Bart Van den Eynde
Scenography: Doris Dziersk
Costumes: Jean-Paul Lespagnard
Light concept: Jan Maertens
Assistant choreography: Abraham Hurtado
Assistant set design: Ania Pas
Production manager: Tanja Thomsen
Technical coordinator: Tom De Langhe
Light technician: Tom Bruwier
Rain & stage: Kay Hupka / Frank Laubenheimer
Production manager: Tiago Rodriguez
Many thanks to: Sonya Cipriano, Christine Clauser, Sarah Corijnen, Ierê Ferreira, Françoise Hottois, Anne Kleiner, André Lepecki, Britta Mayer, Ania Pas, Christine Peterges, Eddy Present
Production: Damaged Goods and EIRA
Coproduction: Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER (Ghent), Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon), Théâtre de la Bastille (Paris), Festival d’Automne (Paris)
Meg Stuart & Damaged Goods are supported by the Flemish authorities and the Flemish Community Commission
EIRA is supported by the Directorate-General for the Arts – Portuguese State Department for Culture / Presidency of the Council of Ministers
