ANGELA (a strange loop)

About

“What makes ANGELA, ANGELA?” Director Susanne Kennedy and multimedia artist Markus Selg want to know. Using the collective experience of individual vulnerability from the last several years as a backdrop, they zoom in on ANGELA's life in search of possible answers, following her from birth to death and beyond.

ANGELA (a strange loop) is a case study in what it means to be human today: What marks do history, personal bonds and society leave on us? The journey accompanies ANGELA through everyday situations: waking and sleeping, being born and giving birth, aging and death. And finally, we see her fall ill. Are ANGELA's mysterious symptoms transforming her, or are they simply changing the way she looks at her life so far? ANGELA is made up of millions of experiences, some of which were told to her by others. Ultimately, she might be nothing but a strange loop, an endless sequence. 

In their artistic practice, Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg explore the potential that exists between bodies, technology, art and rituals. Pursuing a post-humanist aesthetic and taking a multimedia approach, ANGELA (a strange loop) takes us on a deep dive into the fundamental questions of existence, identity, consciousness and the nature of reality. It is a poetic, social analysis through the lens of the diseased rather than the healthy. How can a community deal with the individual's experience of illness. How do we live and how do we die together? How do we care for each other, when life comes to an end?

The National Theatre Drama and its Prague Crossroads Festival are the coproducers of the performance.

Susanne Kennedy & Markus Selg

Since 2016, Susanne Kennedy & Markus Selg have been working together. Kennedy is a female groundbreaking theatre director whose aesthetic and approach brings a unique and fresh viewpoint to the traditionally male-dominated realm of Western theatre. Through the utilization of playback dialogue, doppelgängers, masks and multimedia, her performances invite us to question the essence of what does it mean to be human. Selg is a multimedia artist who delves into the intersection of ancient mythology, digital technology, and human consciousness. In his works, he examines the possibilities and consequences of living in a virtual world that has been transformed into a constant flow of data and information.

Official photos: Julian Röder

WARNING: We use strobe light during the performance.

Coproducers: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), Festival d’Automne à Paris & Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe (Paris), Festival d’Avignon (Avignon), Holland Festival (Amsterdam), National Theatre Drama / Prague Crossroads Festival (Prague), Romaeuropa Festival (Roma), Teatro Nacional de São João (Porto), Volksbühne Am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin)

Supported by Stichting Ammodo (Ammodo Foundation) and the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) with funding by the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media).

Many thanks to Nick Drnaso, Rikke Villadsen and David OReilly for inspiration and quotes.