Friday, May 20, 2016

An interview with Dutch theater director Davy Pieters about her new outdoor cli-fi performance titled "RE-ENACTMENT OF THE NOW."

A Cli-Fi art performance in Holland, directed by Davy Pieters -- MAY/JUNE 2016 -- In a pastoral landscape ''Re-enactment of the Now'' is a cinematic theater performance on location, outdoors, with spectators sitting inside a roof-covered stadium to watch ''a re-enactment of an historical event on the site where it originally took place.'' We interviewed Director Pieters below.

VIDEO TRAILERS of the outdoor show from YOUTUBE:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QIejUrOEyE
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c0qkVp-bAU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

DAN BLOOM: Director Pieters, is this a play, a performance art show, an outdoor cli-fi presentation or what? How can we describe in English?

DAVY PIETERS: ''Re-enactment of the Now'' is a theater performance we perform in an open-air setting, outdoors. We chosen to perform the show in an open field, in a beautiful Dutch landscape, with the city of Utrecht in the background.


QUESTION: When are the dates of the show?

DIRECTOR PIETERS: From May 15 to May 28 at SPRING Festival in Utrecht (the ''opening night'' was on May 17) and from June 10 to June 18 at Oerol Festival at Terschelling, an island off the Dutch coast.

[NOTE TO READERS OUTSIDE HOLLAND AND OVERSEAS AROUND THE WORLD. Ms. Davy Pieters is a guest director at Theater Utrecht.] More info: http://www.theaterutrecht.nl/voorstellingen/re-enactment-now


DAN BLOOM: Will the performance always run outdoors, rain or shine, or storm or hurricane, tornado or tsunami? Even, say, if it's the end of the world?

DAVY PIETERS: The performance is outdoors, in a huge field, with the public sitting in a roofed stadium.

 QUESTION: Where will the audience stand or sit?

DAVY PIETERS: They sit.

QUESTION: How long does show last? One hour or so?

DIRECTOR PIETERS: The show lasts approximately 75 minutes -- one hour and 15 minutes.


QUESTION: Who are the actors and crew?

Director: Davy Pieters
Music: Jimi Zoet
Live voice-over: Thomas Dudkiewicz
 
Actors: Mees Borgman, Joost Bolt, Lotte Driessen, Klára Alexová and Mathieu Wijdeven

DAN BLOOM: What is meaning of title "Re-enactment of the Now" ? Why is the word re-enactment used in the title? And what is it a re-enactment of?

DIRECTOR PIETERS: A ''re-enactment'' is the showing of an historical event from the past. In our show, "Re-enactment of the Now," we show spectators the ''now,'' the world we live in ''now,'' from the perspective of ''a distant future.'' We do this to ahve audiences reflect on how we live ''now'' and how to deal with a global climate that’s been changing dramatically.


QUESTION: Has there been any English-language news about the show in Holland or in the UK?

DAGMAR BOKMA (PR OFFICE): Some English-language news has appeared already on the website of the city of Utrecht which is seen especially by expats living here and by tourists visiting the city -- at IamExpat and our own Theater Utrecht website. A flyer is in both in Dutch and English.

DAN BLOOM: Davy, I love what you are doing with this show and the way that you and your team are presenting it. May I ask you: How did you first hear about the ''cli-fi'' term, from Dutch newspapers or magazines or a friend?

DAVY PIETERS: I met a journalist, his work mostly deals with climate change, and he gave me some tips on ''cli-fi'' literature! I think this new genre is great!"

DAN BLOOM: Thank you, Director Pieters, for your time and your very good answers above.

DAVY PIETERS: Thank you for your interest in my work.

 

 REFERENCES:
 
 
pr@theaterutrecht.nl
 
VIDEO TRAILERS of the outdoor show: from YOUTUBE:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QIejUrOEyE
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c0qkVp-bAU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 

Watch "Achter de schermen bij... ''Re-enactment of the Now'' | Theater Utrecht/ with Ms. Davy Pieters" on YouTube

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SYNOPSIS:

It's 2016 and climate change throws its shadow over the world. The warning signs are clear, the Earth is warming, sea levels are rising and life on Earth is threatened, so why not intervene? Why not really change something about the way we live?


In a pastoral landscape ''Re-enactment of the Now'' is a cinematic performance on location, a re-enactment of a historical event on the site where it originally took place.

 

 As the performance zooms out further and further it will reflect on our own moment in time, on what might have been crucial or that which remained unseen.

An immersive soundscape of Jimi Zoet and a live narrator to be heard through headphones will make this performance a living ''cli-fi'' documentary. But what is fact and what is fiction?

In her distinctive, inventive and idiosyncratic way Dutch theater director Davy Pieters takes us to the future on a return trip to the now, in an attempt to lend history a helping hand.

Davy Pieters (born in 1988) graduated from the directing program at the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts. After her training, she directed several performances at Productiehuis Frascati in Amsterdam.

 

 

In her visual, physical and filmic performances she examines the future of Western culture and life. She finds her inspiration in visual culture, film, science and art.

 

 


"We are constantly confronted with signs that climate change threatens life as we know it. We see images in the media and hear stories of disasters with catastrophic results. I became fascinated by the fact that it appears to remain so difficult for us to associate ourselves with this subject.''

 

''In making this performance I‘m attempting to bridge that gap. I want to offer a different perspective. A moment to pause, to reflect and to imagine."

 

- Davy Pieters





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A special thanks for Dagmar Bokma at the Theater Utrecht for helping set up this interview with director  Pieters.



Hoefijzerstraat 10
3572 BW Utrecht

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