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© Thomas Lenden

Trying to get cozy in the dark dark void

FADAT
Thu 20 Feb ’25 and Fri 21 Feb ’25
Thu 20 Feb ’25
and
Fri 21 Feb ’25

Two beings exist in a green void. This void, a hideous expanse of nothingness, stretches infinitely in every direction, leaving them unsure if they occupy all of it or none of it at all. The boundaries of their being seem to blur, as they feel an overwhelming connection to all that was, all that is, and all that ever will be. Anything could happen because nothing ever will. In the void, danger is looming because nothing touches them. 

They are caught in a cruel dance, where their misery births a bizarre enjoyment. Stunned by possibility, grasped by fear and sparked by joy, they are stretched to an extreme. A deep longing for coziness and comfort creeps in, culminating in a desperate quest for blankets. 

This physical and visual performance unveils an atmospheric exploration of emptiness. An emptiness reverberating from, around, and through the bodies of the performers. 

  • Duration: 60 mins.

Credits

creation, performance, sound design FADAT stage installation, costume design Arthur Guilleminot dramaturgy Peter Missotten coaching Peter Vandemeulebroecke, Esther Snelder outside eye Michiel Vandevelde photography Ies Kaczmarek visual design Heleen Mineur text excerpts by Clarice Lispector, translated by Johnny Lorenz, from A BREATH OF LIFE, copyright ©1987 by the Heirs of Clarice Lispector, translation copyright ©2012 by Johnny Lorenz. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. Clarice Lispector, UM SOPRO DE VIDA, © Paulo Gurgel Valente, 1973 looped soundsample first scene Wuji residencies Het Huis Utrecht, Platform Nexus co-production ON_OFF_SPACE fueled by deSingel supported by Performing Arts Fund NL, Janivo Stichting, Amarte Fonds, Cultuurfonds

About the makers

FADAT is a performance collective consisting of Dutch-Iranian siblings Manuel Groothuysen and Diane Mahín. After having finished their theoretical studies in social sciences and humanities, the duo started to collaborate during their studies at the Institute of Performative Arts in Maastricht. They artistically connect through their shared existential and absurdist view on reality, and on the ways in which humans are subjected to the manipulation of (non-)human entities. These ideas can be overwhelming and confronting, but if one manages to zoom out, potentially liberating and painfully funny. Diane and Manuel shape these concepts into audiovisual performative realities informed by human behavior inside both fabricated and inevitable patterns. 

In the press

"Trying to get cozy in the dark dark void is an urgent work that attempts to shape the all-encompassing nature of the darkness that moves in and around us (...) a necessary performance." Theaterkrant

© Thomas Lenden
© Nikola Lamburov
© Coen Dijkstra
© Thomas Lenden