“Father says that we too should do what we love. But he is busy doing what he loves and has no time to give us hints on how we can find what we love.”
Fragments of memories—immaterial and material remnants of human existence—form the substrate of this theatre evening, which examines the tension between these two fundamental spheres. Parallels, gaps and contradictions emerge in an imagined “Biography Of Many.”
The “many” are those who shared how they work, how they love, and how these two dimensions intersect. Their voices were gathered through research groups initiated during a cycle of six events at the Kulturhaus Helferei in Zurich, and further developed through residencies in Manchester and Rotterdam. Memories from Switzerland, Pakistan, the Netherlands and England are interwoven into a narrative that is both universal and distinctly polyphonic, where the existential sits alongside the seemingly trivial, and the everyday reveals itself as political.
The method of collecting and shaping these stories has been uniquely refined by Arnold & Komarov Travelling Theatre, who treat each contribution with care, condensing anonymous experiences into a shared text. In their diversity, sometimes painful and sometimes joyful, these individual memories become tangible as a collective experience within a communal space.
This space is filled with cardboard boxes— remnants of our consumer society, sourced locally—that shift and transform throughout the performance. As the performers work on stage, so too do CickinDunt, creating live drawings of love for a price. By the end, the stage becomes a gallery: portraits of the audience are exhibited, offering a reflection of those present and the stories shared.
Interdisciplinary, intergenerational and international, LOVE**WORK continues an ongoing exploration of sustainable, accessible and participatory theatre—inviting audiences not only to witness, but to recognise themselves within the collective narrative.