BETON LTD.: HOPPLA, WIR LEBEN. THE LOST GESTURE OF SELF RESIGNATION

Stara mestna elektrarna, Ljubljana, Slovenia
September 25 and 26, 2021

Final Act of the German Cycle

EXPLANATION

An object is located in the middle of the power station. There is no subject in this set up. Do not expect a performance. There isn’t one. There won’t be one.

In the middle of the power station, there’s a per-formation, as we call it. An installation, if you will. Titled Hoppla, wir leben. The Lost Gesture of Self Resignation.

In the middle of the power station is the final act of the Germany Cycle, the completion of the circle that the Beton Ltd. collective initiated with Ich kann nicht anders (2016) and continued with Große Erwartungen (2018) and Mahlzeit (2019).

In the middle of the power station is the end. The resignation.

We resign from our performing positions, we resign from our own collective, from our own mechanisms of collective action, and embrace the idea that self-resignation is an act that is missing in society.
There is nothing tragic about it. After all, every end is actually the end of the end.
Nor is there anything tragic about the fact that we can no longer stand before you. Perhaps the only tragedy is that the egalitarian position of spectator and performer cannot be achieved in theatre. We may have believed this before the end. Therefore, we do not want to enter into our/your relationships by pretending that a temporary community is possible theatre. It can only be part of a simulacrum or as part of a game. That’s why we’re not here.
However, we still believe and hope that it is only legitimate to speak about oneself, hoping that this content speaks and addresses more broadly.

In the middle of the power station stands a per-formation that is simple and straightforward. That’s what we wanted.
We wanted to draw attention to a natural, logical point (or period) in the biography of the creators where the need arises to (radically) change something.
We wanted to draw attention to a point (or period) in the lives of people where the need arises to (radically) change something.
We wanted to draw attention to a point (or period) in the existence of systems where a strong need arises to (radically) change something.

In the world we live in, in which reality has taken away from theatre and art the fundamental power to create the unimaginable, it feels right for everyone to consider for themselves the lost gesture of self resignation.

BETON Ltd. IN RESIGNATION

Sound Design: Jure Vlahovič
Executive Producer: Maja Vižin
Technical Director: Andrej Petrovčič
Public Relations: Tamara Bračič Vidmar
Production: Bunker, Ljubljana
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana, European Union – Creative Europe programme, Culture, Create to Connect -> Create to Impact, Elektro Ljubljana

We thank Kristina Sever, Mojca Jug, Zdravko Duša, Petra Horvat, the Saxophone Quintet Ljubljana Vič-Rudnik Music School – consisting of Vita Pukl, Mila Bezjak, Jakob Jamšek, Špela Smrtnik and Marko Jan Vukajlović – Janez Weiss, Sara Oškera and Igor Remeta for their help in the development and implementation of the per-formation.

Guided tours on Sunday, 26 September 2021:
10 a.m. – Branko Jordan: Beton Ltd collective’s German Cycle.
12 noon – Toni Soprano Meneglejte: Untitled
4 p.m. – 0045: When did I Become Part of Beton Ltd. Collective
6 p.m. – Katarina Stegnar: A Step Too Much Theatre
8 p.m. – Primož Bezjak: Gesture of Resignation

More at www.bunker.si