2023/24 Microbiological safety cabinet, digital clock (900 sec. countdown), Boss RC 505 (loop station), lab coats, “The Puppet’s Tragedy” perfume First presented: artQ13, Rome Performers: Gilberto Bartoloni, Nicole Barbieri, Elisa Bongiovanni, Carlo Caloro, Arianna Carossa, Diana Collepiccolo, Lavinia Pozzi
Four performers wear white lab coats and work with their backs to the audience at a microbiological safety cabinet. They are producing a perfume, made for the performance and titled “The Puppet’s Tragedy”. A digital clock counts down 900 seconds. When the count reaches zero, the cycle begins again. With each repetition gestures, sounds and fragments of dialogue built on a grotesque register accumulate. The sections alternate between monologues, physical contortions, vocalisations and verbal duels. Physical theatre and vocal improvisation overlap with the manual work at the cabinet. Over the course of the cycles the four characters are transfigured: from laboratory technicians they become Neapolitan Guarattelle. The musical score is performed live with a Boss RC 505. Each fifteen-minute cycle adds a layer to the previous one. The characters deform along with the accumulated material.
Retroactive regime. The 900-second time loop functions as the string: with each cycle a layer is added, the characters accumulate and deform. The string does not break — it thickens. The circuit turns back on itself, and with each pass the puppet resembles its starting point less.
Photo: Cristina Crippa Produced by artQ13.