In the play «La porte portable» three performers from Tunisia and Switzerland are confronted with a narrative from the future. They swing between their own biography and the mystical science-fiction-characters they are supposed to play: living 250years from now, under water, and in search of technological knowledge to recover their memories of the years 2011 to 2015. Actors and characters alike move with video-transmission between three focal sites: the black-smith at the Rue de Forgerons, the library Sidi Bou Medien and the public space in between.
The narrative is closely linked to the artists’ countries of origin: Didn’t Switzerland set up a migration-partnership with Tunisia? What did Tunisia expect to get in return? And where do the dead bodies in the Mediterranean float to? As the future creatures investigate such questions within their past, a mobile gateway opens up new prospects be- tween common oppositions: crafts-manship versus academia-education, national identities versus the right of movement, liberal democracy versus ideological stances. Suddenly, the realities between these oppositions as well as the presence of performers and audience start to multiply.
Languages
French, Tunisian (and German, in the adapted tour-version)
Cast
Text, stage directions, video: Tim Zulauf | Performance: Vera Bommer, Abdelmonaâm Chouayet, Najoua Zouhair | Corstumes: Amel Esseghir | Assistance: Fedi Bellakhel, Nour Mnakbi | Translation German-French: Dr. Claudia von Wilcken | Translation French-Tunisian: Abdelmonaâm Chouayet, Najoua Zouhair | Recherchen in Switherland: Dalila Ghodbane
Shows
Zürcher Theater Spektakel, August 25th to 29th 2016
In the framwork of the Tunis’ Biennial «Dream City – Art et lien social», from Oktober 4th till 8th 2015. Site Bibliothèque Sidi Ben Medien, 55, Rue Hajamine, Tunis.
65/75 minutes as loop during four hours, continuous admission from 1 pm till 5 pm
Suported by Pro Helvetia, Association L’Art Rue Tunis, Schweizer Botschaft Tunis
Photographs: Mahdi Bechaouech, Mahdi Belhassen, Heithem Chebbi, Rahma Megarech, Nadhem Mouedhe, Corinne Grassi | Videostills: Tim Zulauf