Germinal at World Stage, Harbourfront

• GERMINAL
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• One of the most refreshing, exuberant and clever explorations of human consciousness I have ever seen on stage.– Vanguard Seattle
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    A smart, witty and stylish production.
    – Irish Theatre Magazine
     
    Engaging with the audience through and around technology creates a fascinating dichotomy … This is one not to miss!
    – tn2 Magazine
  GERMINAL AT WORLD STAGE
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INFORMATION BELOW FROM THE WORLD STAGE WEBSITE

 http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage/germinal/

 

Straddling the playful and the profound, Germinal begins with a bare stage and a group of intrepid adventurers who set out on a mission of exploration. Their task: to imagine how they would remake the universe from the beginning. Throughout the show, their 8×10-metre world becomes increasingly complex as they construct and deconstruct the history of speech, technology, politics, art — nearly all forms of social structure. With an approach both giddily charming and deeply philosophical, Germinal is a truly inventive exploration of thought and social organization.

About Halory Goerger & Antoine Defoort (co-creators of Germinal)

Halory Goerger and Antoine Defoort are part of L’amicale de production, a French “project cooperative” that was founded in 2010. Taking broad aim at authorship and aesthetics, Goerger and Defoort move freely between visual art, music and interactive performance, combining their varied interests to create constantly shifting visions of theatre.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH CO-CREATOR Halory Goerger

DB could you describe your creation and development process for Germinal? 

HG In the beginning it was just the two of us, using a series of residencies to write and develop the concept. It took us approx. two years because we we're already touring heavily and developing other projects on the side. Once we were done with defining a set of rules for this universe, we came up with a lot of material. Then we did a lot of experiments with our tech team and eliminated every invalid hypothesis, focusing on theatrical impact and global coherence. Finally we had bits and piece standing on two legs, that we shared with the actors and the crew.  And in a month, we assembled everything, experimenting until the very last day.

DB what was the initial impulse and inspiration for the piece? 

HG We wrote two other pieces trying to write that one, that we pushed a lot until we realized they were just plain wrong. So when we started the third attempt we decided to just erase everything and start again, which became the primary inspiration, but literally.

DB how do you work as a collaborators? 

HG We talked for weeks, in a process that relates to non-canon psychoanalysis, listening to each other, while pushing free associating to the limits, toying around with concepts. The rule was that we'd have to agree on everything but of course we had to agree to disagree at some point. 

DB would you describe the work as a theatre/performance art hybrid, or something else 

HG This comes often as a surprise for us because we see dance in theatre, and performative aspects in dance pieces, and so on. I guess theatrical aspects are dominant in Germinal, but parts are heavily choreographed.

DB how have audiences responded and what would you like audiences to take from the overall experience

HG Though we were of course unaware of this when we wrote, it appears the play is all in all on the funny side of things so, audience tend to laugh more than complain. But theater cultures vary from places to places, and we sometimes get the silent treatment which is perfectly ok. 

GERMINAL RUNS AT WORLD STAGE, AT THE FLECK DANCE THEATRE (HARBORFRONT) FROM JAN 20TH - JAN 23RD