What do you recall of the places where you passed through ...asou/deutsch/pressetexte/unknown_origin.pdf · Japan), Augusto Omulu (ISTA, Brasil), Kaite O’Reilly (UK), Walter Pfaff

“An existential perigrination with stunning strong imagery”Kleine Zeitung “An existential perigrination with stunning strong imagery”Kleine Zeitung

UNKNOWN ORIGINa production by Theater ASOU

... What do you recall of the places where you passed through, stopped by, slept ...

www.theaterasou.at

“An existential perigrination with stunning strong imagery”Kleine Zeitung

about UNKNOWN ORIGINUnk nown Or igin is a new piece of physical theatre made by an internat ional team from Austr ia , I re land and the UK . I n a wor ld on the move as never before Unk nown Or igin takes t ravels - p lanned, forced or accidental – as both i ts theme and i ts mater ia l . ‘How do we get there’, the per formance asks, ‘and how wi l l we k now when we have arr ived? ’

Ti red, but hopeful , a group of people is on their way. Al l they have with them are their battered suitcases f i l led with memories and f ragments of a l i fe l ived e lsewhere. Unk nown Or igin pr ises open these cases as they cross roads, gates and borders, through turnst i les and check points, under fences and over white l ines, f rom day into dark , and f rom dark into br ightness…

Unk nown Or igin is the latest stage in a col laborat ion bet ween K laus Seewald (Austr ia) and Mar t in Welton (UK ) which explores the movements, memories and dreams of ar r ivals and depar tures. With an or iginal score and sound design by the I r ish composer Mar y Ronayne Keane and atmospher ic l ight ing by the designer Eugen Schöber l the per formance conjures up the del ights and di f f icult ies of gett ing to, through and around a dream cal led Europe.

S ince the beginning of the process t wo vers ions of the play have been developed: one involv ing t wo per formers and the other f ive. As a result both vers ions are avai lable to theatre venues and fest ivals .

“... I do not know the places where you sleep, but I dream of them …”

review UNKNOWN ORIGINK leine Zeitung, 8th of November 2008

Ab out travell ing and tak ing farewell

Graz .

Five ac tors and ten suitcases :

At the T TZ Theatre ASOU goes under the direc t ion of K laus S eewald and the Br i t ish M ar t in Welton on a journey, creat ing out of movement and space images of l i fe – to the del icately t ied sound pattern composed by the I r ish music ian Mar y Ronayne -Keane. Not ions of tak ing farewel l and death belong to the thr i l l ing non-verbal moments of Unk nown Or igin . An existent ia l per igr inat ion with stunning strong imager y but to some ex tent lengthy moments.

E WS

“... it’s not just sope and clothes in these suitcases …

... it’s a live in miniature as a philospher said ... ”

Das andere Theater, G raz, A May 2006 - Januar 2007 Q ueen M ar y Universit y, London, GB March, Apr i l 2007 research

Chisenhale Dance Space, London, GB May, June 2007 research / Ar t ists Grant Public Sharing of Fe e l i n g S p a ce s 17 June 2007

The B o dy Navigation Festival, St.Petersburg, Russia 15 July 2007 Premiere of U n k n ow n O r i g i n (2 person vers ion)

National Theatre, Tirana, Albania 12 Apr i l 2008 U n k n ow n O r i g i n (2 pers. vers. )

Festival : Teatrul del Nord, S atu M are, Romania 17 May 2008 U n k n ow n O r i g i n (2 pers. vers. )

Festival : WerkStatt 2.8. , O b er zeir ing, A 03 Oc tober 2008 Premiere of U r s p r u n g U n b e ka n n t (5 pers. vers. )

I nt. Sk ampafestival, E lbasan, Albania 06 Oc tober 2008 U r s p r u n g U n b e ka n n t (5 pers. vers. )

T TZ, G raz, A 06-09, 13-16 Nov. 2008 U r s p r u n g U n b e ka n n t (5 pers. vers. )

Pinter Studio, Q ueen M ar y Universit y, London, GB 22 November 2008 U n k n ow n O r i g i n (2 pers. vers. )

Pho enix, Exeter, GB 25 November 2008 U n k n ow n O r i g i n (2 pers. vers)

the project UNKNOWN ORIGIN

“… I am unproved history…

... I am alive, but there is nobody who can witness that I am…

... Is there nobody who calls my name?”

about THEATER ASOU (Austria)

Theater ASOU is based in Graz , Austr ia . The company ’s work began with the former ar t ist ic d i rec tor and founder of the theatre company Abel Solares ( Teatro Vivo, Guatemala) as a response to Eugenio Barba’s Theatre Anthropology.

I n the company ’s ensuing attempts to real ize their own theatre, they had invited a var iet y of teachers/direc tors/wr iters f rom var ious backgrounds to teach and col laborate with them in workshops and/or through creat ing per formances and theatre projec ts :

Cather ine Coray (NYU, USA) , Sharon Fogar t y (Mabou M ines, USA) , M itsuk ata Ishi i ( Tok yo, Japan) , Augusto Omulu ( ISTA, Bras i l ) , K ai te O ’Rei l ly (UK ) , Walter Pfaf f (Parate Labor, Swiss) , Stephen Wangh (NYU, USA) , Moe Yamamoto (K anazawa Butoh K an, Japan) , Yumiko Yoshiok a (Germany, Japan) , Phi l l ip Zarr i l l i (Univ. of Exeter, UK/USA) .

S ince 1994, Theater ASOU successful ly presented i ts work in Austr ia as wel l as abroad in Venezuela , Columbia , Costa R ica , USA, Canada, Germany, Albania , Hungar y, Romania , Poland, Russ ia , the UK and Japan.

“ ... dreams of abandoned customs houses, of soldiers in depopulated, rain−soaked

settings, of women in kerchiefs, carrying string bags ...”

TEAMdirec tion, concept K laus Seewald ( Theater ASOU, A) , Mar t in Welton (UK )

p er former (5 p erson version) Uschi L i tschauer (A) , Monik a Zöhrer (A) , Gernot R ieger (A) , K laus Seewald (A) , Mar t in Welton (UK )

p er former (2 p erson version) K laus Seewald (A) , Mar t in Welton (UK )

dramaturgy, translation Bernadette Cronin ( I re land)

l ighting design Eugen Schöber l (A)

sound design M ar y Ronayne -Keane ( I re land)

costumes Barbara Häusl (A)

tex t Naomi Lazard , Amin Maalouf, Ene, K laus Seewald, Andr zej Tichy, M ar t in Welton

pro duc tion Theater ASOU

“... How many kilometres? Somehow it surprises you that there is no end to it …

... What do you recall of the places where you passed through, stopped by, slept?”

foundation and base of this pieceP h i l l i p B. Z a rri l l i The creat ive processes of U n k n o w n O r i g i n have their bas is in the teaching and prac t ice of Phi l -l ip B. Zarr i l l i , with whom both K laus Seewald and M ar t in Welton have undergone intensive t ra ining over the last ten years.

Zarr i l l i ‘s ex tensive research and prac t ice is grounded in the appl icat ion of As ian mar t ia l and meditat ion ar ts to contemporar y per formance across a range of st y les and dramaturgies.

M ore information about his work can be found at : http ://w w w.phi l l ipzarr i l l i .com

Supp or t Fe e l i n g S p a ce s, U n k n ow n O r i g i n Research and development for the produc t ion has par t ly been made poss ible by an Ar t ists Grant f rom Chisenhale Dance Space (London, UK ) and Queen M ar y Univers i t y of London as wel l as by Das andere Theater (Graz , A) . Suppor ted by : Land Steiermark Kulturabtei lung, Stadt Graz Kultur, theater land ste iermark , Austr ian Cultural Forum London, Austr ian Embassy Ti rana, Br i t ish Counci l Albania , Austr ian Air l ines, R ai f fe isen Bank

“... but I have always dreamt of getting to do that ...

… you might even say that it is the sole purpose of my existence, getting there ...”

CREDITS & SUPPORT

Photos by Marina Goulyaeva

Photos by Marina Goulyaeva

Photos by Eugen Schöber l

Photos by M ichael Traussnig

Photos by Arian Andiel

Photos by Arian Andiel

contact THEATER ASOU Theater ASOU PF 932, 8011 Graz Austr ia / EUROPE phone: +43-316-214545 fax : +43-316-214545-15 emai l : of f [email protected] internet : http ://w w w.theaterasou.at for b o ok ings p lease contac t : L issa G ar t ler mobi le : +43-699-18 432 837 / +43-699-1theater emai l : of f [email protected]

for ar tist ic questions about the play please contac t : K laus Seewald

mobi le : +43-699-17 57 63 95 emai l : [email protected]