The Theater Spektakel in Zurich is a three week long festival with theater, dance and other performances from around the world. They have some weird and whacky things, some of which work and some or which don’t. There are crowd pleasers and performances which leave the audience perplexed but there is always something interesting. Also there are many street performers and fortune tellers and balloon artists as so on. Or you can just grab a bite to eat. There are some photos over in my photoblog.
I saw a show by some guys from Osaka who made a very physical performance which was classified under dance. They pushed each other around on stage, slapping each other, showing each other, pushing and competing for space on the stage. They used simple props like drinks bottles and a disposable camera. Halfway through another guy set up a drumkit on stage and added his music to the mix to pump up the action. It was like a struggle for dominance but never escalating into something really dangerous, staying within the realms of play, like showboating among teenage males fueled by hormones and Red Bull. It was quite a show and left the audience mostly puzzled.
I found a video of these guys on the internet (search for Contact Gonzo) showing them in a train station in Seoul, making the same sort of performance, initially wearing rucksacks like travellers before removing them to allow more energetic movements. The people walking past seemed initially unsure if the pushing and shoving was real or staged. Eventually it became clearer that it was a show and people started to film with their mobile phones. That is how we live our lives now. Instead of watching with our eyes, we watch through our devices.
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