Susanne Kennedy & Markus Selg i.c.w. Rodrik Biersteker : I am (VR)

August 13 – 22, 2021
Groningen, The Netherlands

Cutting edge virtual reality theatre about the human search for enlightenment
Would you take the red pill or the blue one? Just like in the cult movie The Matrix, leading theatre director Susanne Kennedy – together with artists Markus Selg and Rodrik Biersteker – presents you with a dilemma: Would you prefer peaceful bliss or would you choose to know a potentially disturbing, life-changing truth? The cutting-edge virtual reality performance I AM (VR) allows you to take the plunge into an impressive virtual world in which new and captivating ways of theatre making are explored. It’s a psychedelic trip, a fantastic and unparalleled theatrical experience – a new reality. Like the ancient Greeks visiting the temple in Delphi in search of the truth, you will be travelling through virtual space in search of a digital oracle. What will you encounter in your meditative journey? The history of what it means to be human, artificial intelligence, perhaps yourself, or something completely different?

Susanne Kennedy, Marcus Selg & Rodrik Biersteker
Susanne Kennedy (Germany, 1977) is a leading theatre director whose singular aesthetic and approach introduce a fresh current to male-centric perspectives that ground Western theatre. In her works, distorted by masks, playback dialogue, doppelgängers and multimedia, the actors confront the audience with the question: what does it mean to be human? Since 2016, she collaborates regularly with Markus Selg. 

Markus Selg (Germany, 1974) is a multimedia artist exploring the dynamics between archaic myth, digital technology and consciousness. In his works, he examines the implications and possibilities of living in an insubstantial, virtual world, a world that has gone through complete codification and turned into a steady flow of information. Since 2016, he collaborates regularly with Susanne Kennedy.  

Rodrik Biersteker (Netherlands, 1986) is an interdisciplinary artist who primarily uses video and interactive technologies in a theatrical context. In recent years, there have been numerous collaborations with Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg.  

Concept and Game Design: Susanne Kennedy, Markus Selg, Rodrik Biersteker
Programming:  Rodrik Biersteker
Visual Design:  Markus Selg, Rodrik Biersteker
Sound Design & Composition:  Richard Janssen
Text:  Susanne Kennedy
Dramaturgy: Tobias Staab
Voices:  Susanne Kennedy, Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, Frank Willens, Ibadet Ramadani
Avatars:  Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, Benjamin Radjaipour, Thomas Hauser Costume: Teresa Vergho 

I AM (VR) by Susanne Kennedy & Markus Selg in collaboration with Rodrik Biersteker. A production Ultraworld Productions (Berlin – DE) in collaboration with Something Great (Berlin DE) 

Co-produced by:  Berliner Festspiele (Berlin – DE), Hybrid Box/Hellerau – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste (Dresden – DE), Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel (Hamburg – DE), Münchner Kammerspiele (Munich – DE), Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts & Society (Groningen – NL), Schauspielhaus Bochum / Oval Office (Bochum – DE), Theater Commons Tokyo (Tokyo – JP) and Volkstheater Wien (Vienna – AT).  

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