Try to imagine Harstad as the springboard for a heady revolution. In a world with ever more uprisings in the middle east, provocative and unpredictable presidential candidates in the USA, and our own town in the midst of an economic turmoil which creates class divides – maybe it is not so unthinkable after all?
One of Europe´s most celebrated theatre companies comes to the Arctic Arts Festival to bring an uprising to Harstad. In close collaboration with the audience the Berlin based collective gives us a taste for revolution.
But is the timing right for dramatic change? Should it be here and now? Are we not just a little bit too cosy for an uprising right now? Are we really prepared for this? Is the way we life part of the problem or part of the solution? Or is the concept of revolution somewhat outdated? Gob Squad take us through the first steps towards revolution in order to prepare us for the day itself.
Harstad kino will be stormed and taken over as a revolutionary headquarters. Access to weaponry is secured and the public are locked into the hall. They are then connected up to a video line which broadcasts live on TV to the world outside…» This is Gob Squad´s underground TV station and we cannot leave until the world stops and listens to us. We will stay here as long as it takes!
With audience participation Gob Squad create revolutionary headlines, manifestos, debates and songs of protest sung by a choir, all with the goal of inspiring passers by to let rip and embrace the revolution.
The Berlin based Gob Squad describe themselves as a seven headed monster, an arts collective without hierarchy, consisting of seven different leaders, highly motivated by a desire to shift the public out of its traditionally passive role. Gob Squad mounts performances that can best be described as organised chaos, with utopian scenarios where collective experiences involving passers by and the public suddenly become possible. Three elements form the basis of God Squad´s work; visual choreography, improvisational elements and the unexpected which can never be planned. Theatre meets arts, media and reality. Since its beginning in 1994 Gob Squad has always searched for new ways of combining media and performance. Sound and video technology often play a key role in their productions.
”Revolution Now” is a Gob Squad co-produced by Donaufestival Niederösterreich, Schauspiel Köln and Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. They receive financial support from the Berliner Kulturverwaltung.