toxic dreams
What do you really want?
Taking a variety of different approaches, toxic dreams examines the various concepts of audience participation and its problems in their new work What do you really want? The avant-garde theatre of the 1960s and 70s focused on the art form itself, opened the production of meaning and gave the audience a voice in the performance’s development in a sort of collective ritual. Current participatory works of many free theatre groups, in contrast, tend to focus less on this reflectivity and much more on the diverting collective experience. What do you really want? puts a stop to the curse of rituals from 60s theatre and replaces the fancy happening of generation Google with a more intimate setting. As the title reveals, the audience is encouraged to communicate what’s they’re really dying to do.
Two experts in the field of group counselling, psychoanalyst Felix de Mendelssohn (17 and 18 October) and Gestalt therapist Nancy Amendt-Lyon (19 October) are guiding through the evenings and remain as well part of the group. The fact that all participants really have their work cut out for them draws parallels to our current social situation. The theatre space isn’t the only place performance is required, but also in real life. Post-industrial conditions have wormed their way into the everyday and force us to deliver a constantly good performance, or at least a convincing one. toxic dreams requires of their audience nothing more and nothing less, with the small but subtle difference that the right to have a say is up at the top of the agenda. So, what do you really want?
There will be an audience discussion following the performance on 18 October.
After the closing of What do you really want? in brut, toxic dreams will be showing REAL FAKE/ECHT FALSCH in the Wien Museum on 19 and 20 October from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. City residents become living, speaking artefacts of an exhibit and make their lives into works of art.
Moderation/evening guidance Felix de Mendelssohn (17 and 18 October); Nancy Amendt-Lyon (19 October) Sound Michael Strohmann Concept Yosi Wanunu Production Kornelia Kilga
A co-production of toxic dreams und brut Wien.
With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Austria’s Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture.
€ 14/€ 8/€ 6 with the brutkarte*