Directed by: Cao Kefei, Zhang Xian
Small theatres are often called black box, but they are not real black, as they are constantly lit. "Real Blackbox" is a theatre where no lighting is used, and perception of works or happening are not visually orientated. The result of the project will take place in a dark room at the end of the two-week workshop.
The idea originally comes from a strategy to escape the control of the totalitarian system. A movable dark container will be used as the performance place where no photo or video recording is possible. It either stands there as an installation in an exhibition space or is transported by lorry to different locations. A real Blackbox can be used flexibly as a performance or meeting place and quickly dissolve again. The container thus forms a movable hetero-public space in a city, whereby performance is partly planned and partly freely improvised. In some situations, the container is even part of everyday life in the city. Inhabitants can reserve it for a certain time and explore their own experiences beyond visibility.
Keywords of the "Real Blackbox": anti-visual theatre, sensory perception, anti-identification, non-public, non-(re)presentative, individual presence, agora, marketplace, multi-channels, liminal, parallelism.
We return to the time of the agora of the Greek polis, when public life was not yet fully adapted to the system, when an assembly still meant meeting, participation and discussion in the true sense. Or we return to the time of the marketplace of ancient China, when everyday life, the play of local opera and acrobatics ran parallel. These were open, flowing places where encounters took place and the boundary between performers and spectators was blurred, where every visitor had a free choice.
Prerequisite for the project presentation:
Darkness of the performance space
Keep exit and passage to the toilet clear and mark signs on the floor
Mobile phones must be left outside
Segment the space: play area und seats for visitors
