THE SPULLENMEN
THEATRE, INSTALLATIONS, VISUAL ART AND PURPOSELESS CONTRAPTIONS
MORE
In a remote record office at the Ministry of Goods No Longer In Use two men are trying to keep their heads above water. MORE is about the abundance of spullen and the experience of being written off.
With the performance MORE the Spullenmen tell a futuristic fairy tale about a contemporary issue: the problem of giving sense in a world with ample choice and few restrictions.
Spullen from certain a past has been put together on stage in a new, intriguing constellation. Some parts are supported by long stilts, suggesting a flooding any moment. The sound of dripping draws attention to the many pots and pans that are used to fight an enduring leakage. Everything suggests that the water has been long accepted and most effort is done in symptomatic treatment.
At his desk an administrator is stuck in an elaborate routine, ordained by a telex machine. It happens to be a keeper of records at the Ministry of Goods No Longer In Use. He preserves the characteristics of devices that are about to fall into oblivion. The man lives by a neurotic ritual in which a fixed sequence involving stamps, staples and a punch leads to an almost devote dance in between his desk, the telex and a huge archive.
Then the pattern is disturbed by a second man, entering stage completely soaked, carrying a leaking suitcase. His appearance hints of an outer world full of water, in which the Ministry of Goods No Longer In Use may be closed down already long ago. The coming of the man is severely disturbing the administrators' rituals, forcing him to consider his fate, of which in the end he is not in control.
credits
| idea | Harmen Zijp, Jelle de Bruijn, Tristan Kruithof |
|---|---|
| performed by | Jelle de Bruijn, Harmen Zijp, Robbert Kamphuis |
| direction | Stefan van Wieringen |
| eindregie | Klaus Jürgens |
| coproduction | Theater De Lieve Vrouw Amersfoort |