The third collaboration between theatre artists Anna Franziska Jäger and Nathan Ooms stems from a simple fact: The 21st-century-obsession with digitalization and efficiency is visible in pretty much all aspects of our lives. Our ways of language use are becoming streamlined and standardized through ‘templates’, emojis, and gifs. How does this evolution change the way we express and understand ourselves, how we think, feel, or love? Is there any way to escape it? Here comes Bartlebabe, a creature between human and algorithm. A mass of online content collides with the analog reality of the theatre. Then, this reality takes on a monstrous face. The fantasy of a completely frictionless communication squeezed into templates evokes the famous quote “I would prefer not to” by clerk Bartleby, the literary brainchild of Herman Melville. The disruptive nature of his standard response to any request is revealed in that is neither an affirmation nor an absolute refusal; his attitude renders impossible the whole system in which he is expected to function because it undermines its very foundations. To quote the critics: Barlebabe is “a remarkable work.”

#efficiency #efficiency=harmony=alarm #human #algorithm #control #Melville #theatre

creation: Anna Franziska Jäger and Nathan Ooms * performance: Anna Franziska Jäger * mentors: Bryana Fritz and Frederik Le Roy * dramaturgical advice: Simon Baetens, Tom Engels * costumes and scenography: Carly Rae Heathcote * technique: Koen Goossens * production: KASK Drama School of Arts & CAMPO, Ghent * residencies: CAMPO, Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek, Vooruit, De School Van Gaasbeek, kunstencentrum BUDA & Art Basics for Children * thanks to: Fabrice Delecluse, Bardia Mohammad, Lander Gyselinck ​​

© Carly Rae Heathcote

With the support of the Government of Flanders