“Your room is the centre of the world.”

A staged introspective essay on the melancholy of resistance and freedom in degrowth.

 In the new phase of history determined by the climate crisis, the boundary between work and leisure will have to be redefined. When actors are on stage, they are working, when they are in their flat, they are at leisure. In modern society, time away from work is filled with activity, we try to spend it productively and this production defines us. But what if a room from an actor’s flat appears on stage? What if the absence of events or conflict jeopardises the actor’s performance? Can this Nothing, which is related to not being productive (so important for a sustainable future), be a theme on its own? Is it possible to depict this Nothing?

A mind wandering freely. Reflecting on the non-human elements that make up the reality of the flat in the same way a human does. Examining light. Looking after houseplants. A friend’s visit. Sharing the fatigue of the planet. Discussions on productivity. What is the purpose of art today? Can art be the avant-garde of non-productivity, or is it inherently akin to production? Is it possible to be always new? How can art free itself from overabundance? Being versus meaning. Removing elements. Getting rid of things. Slowness. Incompleteness? Mu means 'Nothing' in Japanese.

HaDivadlo's collective authorial project follows up on the collaboration with screenwriter Bohdan Karásek and quotes from the texts The Man Who Sleeps by Georges Perec and From the North by Hill, From the South by Lake, From the West by Road, From the East by River by László Krasznahorkai. The project was inspired by Jean-Philipp Toussaint’s novel The Bathroom.

Season 45: Resources → Season 46: Adaptation