The Ninth

“The attempt to tame human has failed.”

(Peter Sloterdijk)

From absolutism to socialism … From defeatism to optimism … From populism to vulgarism … From humanism to barbarism. The ninth is the anthropological machine powered by Beethoven. On the one hand: “The masterpiece of Western civilisation”. “Magnificent and complex.” “Sublime.” “A stunning expression of the human spirit.” “The outburst of a triumphant vision of brotherhood.” Beethoven’s Ninth. And on the other side, us: naked and suspicious. Nothing glorious. Nothing triumphant. Not complex, but reduced. Not sublime, but explicit. Blinded by the images we see. Deafened by the sounds we hear. Searching for a lost connection with the Animal. The performance is based on Giorgio Agamben’s thoughts on humanism as an anthropological machine that systematically suspends the animal – defining human only in difference from the animal. In this sense, there is an ever-growing semantic void in the modern subject, which ideologies are trying to fill. Civilisation is becoming increasingly heavy with ideological baggage, and the individual, as the receptor of ideological constructs, is gradually collapsing under the weight of their imperatives. Or as Peter Sloterdijk says: “The attempt to tame human has failed. The barbaric potential of civilisation is increasing; the daily brutalisation of man is intensifying.”

Photo: Jakub Wittchen

Photo: Jakub Wittchen

Photo: Marta Ankiersztejn

Photo: Jakub Wittchen

Photo: Marcandrea

Photo: Marcandrea

Photo: Marta Ankiersztejn

The Ninth

2016 • Irresolvable
Gallop through Beethoven’s Ninth • 75 min

Concept — Bojan Jablanovec, Anita Wach
Direction — Bojan Jablanovec
Devised and performed by — Anita Wach, Gregor Zorc, Jaka Lah, Loup Abramovici, Magdalena Tuka
Music — Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9; Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, 1963
Mask design — Barbara Stupica
Light design — Igor Remeta
Video — Ana Čigon
Producer — Špela Trošt
Production — Via Negativa
Co-production — JaJaJa NeNeNe, Warsaw
Partners — Teatr A Part Katowice, Ciało/Umysł Foundation Warsaw, Bunker Ljubljana