Continuing on from their research into contemporary performance forms and experiments with modern illusions, GK COLLECTIVE presents the eighth instalment of their “THéâTRe CaCHé” (HiDDeN THeaTeR) theatrical form project – PROUST. Last year’s show, URGENCE, gave us a glimpse into this process of a blurred introduction of fiction into reality, on which Hungarian producer Gabrielle CSERHATI and her collective have been working for almost ten years. This time, GK COLLECTIVE have increased their working scope from one spectator to a community of simultaneous shows (numerous shows, each with one spectator), using the eminently contemporary object and figure of the mobile phone to take one spectator, one actor and one voicemail service on an intimate encounter and indirect journey that needs to be experienced directly.
The meeting point is confirmed by text message, in a city square, the backdrop to the theatre of everyday urban life. The first intrusion asks the spectator to install a mobile application and call a mystery phone number. In the movement that follows, in this living film watched from within, PROUST slowly blurs the lines between fiction and reality, overturning typical uses of mobile phones, “which are both our emotional safety net, available 24/7, and our shield to block out the reality surrounding us”. This street performance for individuals questions contemporary relationships to communication and the ways in which new technologies influence our relationships and “urban experience”. It literally takes us on a journey, far from the spotlight, through life-size encounters and the confusion of other people’s perspectives.
PROUST once again blurs the rules of perception and traditional theatre in this clever and disruptive artistic response to the increasing demands we face every day. Seventy-two people will be able to enjoy this experience every day.
BIOGRAPHY
GK COLLECTIVE is led by Hungarian director Gabrielle CSERHATI, who trained in cinema and on the progressive Berlin scene. This theatrical research group was founded in 2009 and is developing a form of theatre known as “Hidden Theatre”. They seek to blur the lines between reality, life and performance so that spectators cannot clearly distinguish between the real and pretend. They introduce fiction into reality, giving illusion a new place in everyday life, aiming to catch it off guard through theatrical action hidden within a real activity (e.g. on a shopping street, in a supermarket or apartment). GK COLLECTIVE has developed eight participatory productions for one spectator and honed their desire to give theatre a new kind of legitimacy in a society overwhelmed by illusions (e.g. virtual reality, the Internet, interactivity, 3D technology). (F)ravi, Urgence, Proust, and Éprouvette currently under development, maintain the tension while leaving spectators free to determine their involvement and scrupulously respecting any reluctance on their part. This new tacit agreement unites artist and spectator in forms that never cease to surprise us by their ingenuity and their sense of theatrical priority.
DISTRIBUTION
Mise en scène : Gabriella Cserhati / Ecriture collective dirigée par : Fabien Lartigue / Avec : Djamel Afnaï, Juliet Coren-Tissot, Rachel Huet-Bayelle, Isabelle Hazaël, Morgane Le Rest, Arnaud Lesimple, Quentin Pradelle, Julien Prévost, Jérôme Steinberg
RÉSIDENCES ET COPRODUCTIONS
Animakt, L’Atelline, Hameka, Le Polau, Productions Bis, Théâtre de Châtillon, Les Tombées de la Nuit
AVEC LE SOUTIEN DE
Arcadi, l’Adami, la DGCA, la DRAC Ile de France, la Région Ile de France, la SACD « Auteurs d’Espaces », le Réseau Déambulation, le Réseau In Situ
