In the late 1920s, Nâzım Hikmet introduced free verse to Turkish poetry, and he was thus the first modern Turkish poet. He wrote the majority of Human Landscapes, his magnum opus, while in prison. The five hundred-page epic was only published posthumously, divided into five ‘books’. Michiel Vandevelde staged Book I last year, commissioned by steierische herbst. Book II now follows.

Flanked by two clumsy assistants, artist-in-residence Kate McIntosh stands on the stage as a high priestess in a glittering gown. During a kind of revue, they passionately devote themselves to a series of household experiments. Dark Matter is an extremely funny production that simultaneously evokes a sense of ominousness.

Trials of Money turns the theatre into a court of justice which does not yet exist. You’re invited to take part in the Special Tribunal for Semi-Human Persons in order to undertake the trial of the thing called ‘money’. The trial is conducted as a collective exercise: while the performers deliver their testimonies, they will respond to any question the audience has. Should money be found guilty, it leaves us with a very problematic question: what could be a just sentence?

Continuous interaction between the performers and audience is rooted in an implicit understanding. Along with your fellow audience members, you delineate the stage in an ellipsis: this is a dance of touch. Join the performers in this adventure to discover what it means to experience tactility!

Saving and processing the daily tsunami of information is a time-consuming occupation. Based on this fact, Michiel Vandevelde analyses the role of thought. With an exuberant choreography full of re-appropriated dance, fragments of text and bizarre music, he articulates a critique of our time, carefully searching for new modes of thought.