In 1971, Dutch television invites the charismatic star philosophers Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky to a TV duel. Framed by Enlightenment mediating zeal, the adversaries negotiate their central ideas on the nature of "human nature": what influence can humans have on their own history, and can individual action lead to political change?
Brazilian sculptor and author Nuno Ramos, together with an internationally renowned music and performance ensemble, now brings the legendary debate back to the stage, blatantly sharpening its basic moderate situation. With her knowledge of the failure of solidarity-based protests, critical discourses of power and emancipatory visions, the mythological seer Cassandra interferes vehemently in the event.
Repeatedly, her final cries resound in Greek composer Iannis Xenakis' setting. Vocal and percussion cascades from the work overlap, decompose and open up the monolithic speech duel between Chomsky and Foucault. A scenic soundscape emerges, full of lustful mockery, existential lament and passionate empathy.
Funded by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and Musikfonds e. V. with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
Text source and further information about this event: https://www.alteoper.de/de/programm/veranstaltung.php?id=520499481
