Pop-mechanical Performance
Medea.Material
NET (New European Theatre) Festival, Meyerhold Center, Moscow, RU, 2016
A technogenic mystery by ORTA for sixteen professional models, six musicians, two voices, and live media systems.
Based on the text Medeamaterial by Heiner Müller and AZ and YA by Olzhas Suleimenov, the performance marked the first exploration of compositional principles, bringing together dramatic theatre, contemporary music, fashion choreography, and media installation.
While presented as a theatre piece, the experiment was aimed at exploring how to construct relationships between the history of Kazakhstan, the myth of Medea, the contemporary generation, and the condition of theatre itself—through compositional form and the connection of elements by formal attributes rather than through conventional theatrical tools.
The spirit of the project was inspired by the figure and explorations of the legendary composer Sergey Kuryokhin and his orchestra Pop-Mechanics—a gloriously over-the-top, exuberant mix of forms, humor, and energies.
Medea.Material was presented at the NET International Festival (2016) at the Meyerhold Center (Moscow) and was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award.
Produced by ORTA with support of Goethe-Institut Kasachstan and Soros Kazakhstan.
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