Singapore Arts Festival 20 May – 22 June 2008
HYDRO SAPIENS THE LUNATICS (NETHERLANDS)
WORLD PREMIERE! For every question, there is an answer… What is the power of water? How weak can it make you? Should we fear it, love it, hate it? A human being is made up 66% percent out of water, so why do we need more? And in how many ways a man can drown? For all these questions, The Lunatics will try to find the answers - through a very intensive, hilarious, spectacular and even brutal search for the right value of water.... In a floating factory a group of dedicated men brew an elixir made of fruits from the water. The arrival of two women is a festive event, until jealousy and the need to take control arise. Greed wakes up an underworld of mystical powers that turn things upside down. Can water burn and fire extinguish? Hydro Sapiens is a musical water spectacle in which bodies overflow and drowned persons will rise again…
Twelve fanatic and truly wet actors, thousand of litres of water, 45 minutes of splashing experiences, countless moments of awe, laughter and silence, and water in your eyes. In 2008 The Lunatics would like to present to you their newest adventure: Hydro Sapiens!
www.lunatics.nl
Production Date Venue Duration Company Size
: The Lunatics : 20 – 22 June : Bedok Reservoir : 45min : 14pax
Singapore Arts Festival 20 May – 22 June 2008
THE LUNATICS
For almost 12,5 years, the Lunatics has been performing ingenious theatre in all kinds of places throughout the world. From soggy Dutch marshland to sweltering jungles, from bustling cities to barren deserts, the most absurd locations have served as the Lunatics' fairytale stage. Bizarre imagery transports the audience to an adventurous world that is wild, hilarious and moving at the same time. Realistic situations are connected with inexplicable, logic with mystery. Nothing seems what it is. Various light and sound effects, unique objects and idiosyncratic yet identifiable characters combine in The Lunatics' performances to activate the imaginations of thousands. The locations are critical, as they provide a constantly changing backdrop that inspires the imaginations of both actor and audience; each story has not one, but hundreds of versions. Often water, fire, earth and air are important sources of inspiration: Sandman (1999), Mare (war about water -2000), Mare Tranquillitatis (the lost sea– 2001/2002), Black Moon (the Tsunami – 2005), Sputnik (the drive to fly– 2005/2006), Lunagua (the struggle between water and sand– 2006). One of their notable shows, Lunagua, was specially made on behalf of the World Water Forum in Mexico-City. This was an illustrative open-air spectacle about the struggle between water and sand. Among the thousands of participants at the premiere in Mexico, his Royal Highness The Prince of Oranje (The Netherlands), was one of the VIPs who attended the premiere. The Lunatics has grown from a small street theatre group to a large scale outdoor theatre company and specializes in making raw non-verbal street- and location theatre with poetical, powerful images. The group is playing on festivals in and far outside Europe as well. The humour and non-verbal form makes its easy to reach new public wherever they go.
Awards
In 2006 the group won the first prize at the International Street Theatre Festival in Detmold. “We wish to acknowledge the development, over a number of years of an important and unique body of work by a company which has established close and successful links with the Holzminder and Detmold festivals. Therefore we give half of the 2006 award for open-air theatre to The Lunatics for ‘Sputnik’. Even before the performance has begun, no one can mistake a Lunatics set for the work of any other company, and the audience is filled with curiosity about the comical/poetical events which will unfold.” At the International Street- and Open Air Theatre Festival in Holzminden (2000, Germany), The Lunatics also won first prize for Sandman for "… its poetry, its humour, its beauty and its ability to realize a dream world with very powerful performances by the three actors.” In 2004 the same panel, but now in Detmold, reported: “… with Eclipse, The Lunatics showed the strength of their continuing development. Their very own artistic language and the high quality of scenography (…), the impressive musical and lighting compositions fascinated us. The Lunatics are unique in their ability to command a vast space with only a few actors.”