»Live«

JAŠA DRNOVŠEK, Sodobnost Ljubljana, 72/1, January 2008

Theatre diary (fragment)

(When speaking of »live«, this term shares content space with the term »Liveness« as introduced into performance theory by Philip Auslander. In a few days, his book Live will be published in Slovene by Knjižnica MGL.)

The method with which Not Like Me re-actualizes Rhythm 0 and performance in general – which is preciselz what it is all about! – includes irony, which at first distances the spectator of “contemporary performance arts. Al Droubi brings it about in a complex manner: at first by appearing on stage as a caricature of a female figure; then by stating that he has always wanted to appear in a book on contemporary arts; and finally by an intentionally occluded knowledge of the history of performance art and by stressing the banality of the context (as implied by the sexual connotations regarding Abramović, for example asking the performers, both of which “would fuck” her, whether she had her breasts enlarged with silicone).

This is followed by the closing scene of Not Like Me. Like Kadin, Al Droubi “frames” the scene: he states that we are in Zadar on August 13th 2007 – these are the space-time coordinates of the performance premiere -, and introduces himself and Kadin by stating names, occupations and age. Kadin repeats the introduction with the only difference in substituting the “serbian” month and number names for Croatian ones (we are laying aside Jablanovec’s clear implication that we are dealing with a Serb and Croat). In the background, a screen starts showing the Zadar premiere of ht performance, while Al Droubi sits motionlessly, his palms stretched on the table before him and Kadin reads various critiques and other responses to the performance. The audience responses vary here. Some viewers laugh at some of the comments (for example a blog entry stating that “Only a Slovene could convince a Serb and a Croat to cut one another); others watch the recording on the screen with interest; others still are turning away and becoming restless.

Kadin then stops the video and announces the new coordinates (Ljubljana, November 17th 2007). He also announces the “knife game”. He sits opposite Al Droubi, take the smallest of the five knives that had been arranged on the table and begins to stab between Al Droubi’s fingers with increasing speed. When he draws first blood, Al Droubi takes the initiative: taking the smallest of his set of knives and starting to stab between Kadin’s fingers. They take turns until Špela Trošt jumps up from the first row, yelling »Stop it!« and calling the audience to applaud. This is the end of Not Like Me.

(…)

As we mentioned before, the effect that Medea Novak and Samo Gosarič invoked merely by appearing on stage was stronger that the identifications that Kadin’s stories offered. We’ve also stressed the power of “presence” in the scene, where Iva Burčul destroys anything she can lay her hands on on stage. But the effect that the “knife game” achieved “live” surpassed in power all that came before – even the effect of the video of the Zadar premiere. During the “knife game” a special atmosphere rose in the hall. In particular, the spectators that moments earlier were laughing at the recording and the responses Kadin was reading, became suddenly silent. The silence that cam about seemed to stop time. All we could hear was the knife tip hitting either wood or human flesh – and cries of bewilderment here and there. The situation was extremely tense. If Trošt didn’t break it up, it would probably keep going. (Considering the spectator’s focus on the happening on stage we can assume that some were actually somewhat disappointed at the interruption). The audible and visible relaxation that the end of the performance brought also points to the extreme tension of the event.

Before the “knife game” “live” and after the spectators get to hear selected responses to the Zadar premiere of Not Like Me, Kadin says that “nobody is mentioning Isabela, Markus, Polona, Dragutin, Ana, Krištof, Anamarija, Pieter anymore«. And it is quite probable that today, six days after the performance in Ljubljana, very few remember how old all the “characters” were, what their names were and in what situations they found themselves in the story. But the effect of the “knife game” “live” was also stronger than the recording of the same event – even though both were the exact same actions of the performers. It is clear that the order of “presence” surpassed the “order” of representation – and that it is a “live” event, the “contemporaneousness” of it, it’s “living” that can have the greatest effect on stage.

According to the statement Marina Abramović made New York Magazine, Via Negativa, directed by Bojan Jablanovec and performed by Boris Kadin and Kristian Al Droubi, is at least somewhat problematic. It does however re-actualize in a considered manner the genre of performance art itself, not only by incorporating irony but mostly by gradually shifting the focus from “representation” to “presence”. Not Like Me is living proof that a “live body” has the greatest effect on stage among all media. And while the “live body” exists, we need no fear for effect in theatre.