Mount Olympus: to glorify the cult of tragedy (a 24-hour performance) is a graphic, 24-hour Dionysian orgy of madness, murder, and music — a hallucinatory vision of Homeric themes and characters, played by 27 performers, that come to life in one day and one night. It is the age of humanity, and the birth of tragedy in its most fundamental form: mutilation, obscenity and purification. Acclaimed Belgian director Jan Fabre’s American premiere outlines stories and characters from Greek tragedy, wrenching open their flaws until they are left in tatters, smashed by violence, Homeric laughter and ecstasy. Mount Olympus is not a modernization of Greek tragedy. It is an investigation of the impossibility of representing that which mutilates us and makes us pure again.
This piece is recommended for ages 18+
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Please note that the Box Office will be open from 12pm-10pm on Saturday, November 10 and closed on Sunday, November 11.
Alongside tragedy, time also plays a leading role. Fabre intensifies the present moment, the eternal here and now of theater, in a maelstrom of images that pull the audience into a mode of temporal experience, a labyrinth of time. The performers speak a language punctuated by hesitations, silences and death rattles, a language that is sometimes just a scream. They allow Fabre to question the concept of time: What is time, in theater? What happens when time is stretched out, until it relaxes and unravels? Is this a sort of hallucination? A dream? What is it like to wallow in the swamp of insomnia? www.mountolympus.be
Belgian director, multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Jan Fabre is one of the most versatile and provocative artists on the international stage, known for pushing the boundaries of art and performance. Chaos and discipline, repetition and madness, metamorphosis and the anonymous are all indispensable ingredients in Fabre’s works. He makes a clean break with the conventions of contemporary theater by introducing the concept of ‘real-time performance’ – sometimes called ‘living installations’ – and explores radical choreographic possibilities as a means of resurrecting classical dance. troubleyn.be/eng/about-jan-fabre
This performance contains sexual themes, adult language, nudity, and is sexually graphic.
Skirball Moves programming is generously supported by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
This project is supported by the General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA.
