Man and machine, it’s a recurring theme for visual artist and dramatist Kris Verdonck. In his theatrical installation I/II/III/IIII, four dancers performed a choreography as they were suspended from a carousel. End featured machine-like figures that were half man, half robot. In Actor #1 Verdonck goes even further: he tries to develop a robot that can recite a text by Samuel Beckett on stage. At the 2009 Vooruit festival the game is up Verdonck already elaborated on his research into the future of the stage: will robots be able to recite a text, thus making actors redundant? What does acting mean if we take this approach? And how do we define the stage? Actor # 1 is an abstract but intriguing experiment by a groundbreaking artist.
- Tags
- coproductie
- performance
- robot
- toekomst
- Artists
- Kris Verdonck
- Johan Leysen
Kris Verdonck (concept & direction), Marianne Van Kerkhoven (Kaaitheater) (dramaturgy), Johan Leysen, Jean Paul Van Bendegem (performance (on film)), Thomas Turine (sound design), Sylvain Spinoit, Atelier 26, Steven Blum (technical regie), Luc Schaltin (Kaaitheater), Kris Verdonck (light design), Felix Luque (multimedia programmation), Vincent Pinckaers (video), Hendrik De Smedt (production), Colin Legras (technical coordination)
Production: Margarita Production for stilllab vzw
Coproducers: Kaaitheater (B), Kunstencentrum Vooruit (B), Buda kunstencentrum (B), Le manège.mons/CECN (B), Transdigital/TechnocITé (B)
Project initiated by la chartreuse (F) in the frame of its research on robots and theatre
Scientific research: Jean-Jacques Cassiman, Dirk De Ridder, Philippe Fraisse, Jean Paul Van Bendegem, Dirk Van Hulle
Thanks to : Atelier 26, Acapella digital voice, Arne Vanneste, LIRMM (F), Luc Steels
This project is part of Transdigital. With the support of:
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ACTOR #1 - dramaturge Marianne Van Kerkhoven over ACTOR #1
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Persrecensie: De vreemde wereld van de dingen - Kris Verdonck toont beperkingen van mens en machine in Actor #1 - ****
by Pieter Tjonck (De Morgen, 21 jan 2010)
