The human of the future will be freed from humanity.
Imagine that through modern technology we no longer feel pain, we no longer grow old and ugly and we no longer die. Will machines have defeated humans? In a macaber fairytale, Ulrike Quade and Romain Bischoff take a close look at the engineered human. Their inspiration is Oscar Wilde’s novel: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.
After a diabolical experiment, Dorian Gray becomes immortal by changing place with his portrait. As the years go by he remains a perfect, young god, while his image on the painting deteriorates. What initially appears to be a hedonistic celebration, ends up a nightmare.
In this performance on the borders between opera, visual theatre and technology, Dorian Gray is no nineteenth-century dandy. Together with librettist Marcel Roijaards and composter Leonard Evers, Quade and Bischoff recreate him as a contemporary perfectionist. He is immaculate and immortal thanks to modern technology. After this new evolutionary step, we are left with one question: What of humanity remains after we are freed from decay and death is no longer inevitable?
You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul. — George Bernard Shaw
Dorian Gray premiered in October 2018 at Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam.
,,What they have created is a show that will stay young and vibrant for as long as it is performed and which is, above all, excellent theatre. Highly recommended.’’
Arts Talk Magazine (Michael Hasted)
,,Highly recommended.’’
★★★ De Volkskrant (Karin Veraart)
