On the black turntable of a giant record player, the modern world begins to move. Installed on the stylus arm of the machine, the composer Dimitri de Perrot and his 33 rpm set the pace. Martin Zimmermann, actor and choreographer, is the human “needle” on this record. In the rotation, a world of cardboard comes to life, transformed by a light, a fold, a tear or a curve. Martin Zimmermann tries to get into the dance but the set keeps escaping – in this evening without words, the Swiss duo shows us man’s alienation in a standardised society, with its pseudo- instruments of modernity, the flat screen, the cell phone, the computers – in fact they are the chains of his servitude. The concept is serious but the tone is light – and the performance remarkable. And if there is a hint of melancholy, it evolves out of the ironic lucidity, the ingenious setting, the intelligence of the situation and the taste for burlesque, perhaps channeling Buster Keaton!
musical composition Dimitri de Perrot ||| choreography Martin Zimmermann ||| lighting design and stage management Ursula Degen ||| sound and electronic design Andy Neresheimer ||| set construction Pius Aellig, Jean-Marc Gaillard ||| packaging research Claude Gloor ||| artistic collaborations Aurélien Bory, Arnaud Clavet, Goury, Aline Muheim, Lex Trüb ||| dramaturgic collaboration Julien Dütschler ||| with Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot
Coproduction Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne E.T.E. | Le Merlan, Scène nationale de Marseille | Theater Chur | Association Zimmermann et de Perrot | Théâtre associé PiuFestival – Brescia.
With the support of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Foundation for Culture | the city of Zürich | the Canton of Zürich | Pour-cent culturel Migros | the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation | Ernst Göhner Stiftung | SSA-Société Suisse des Auteurs.
With support for touring from Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Foundation for Culture
With the triennial support of the Company of the BNP Paribas Foundation.
