Nothing Bigger Than Humanity invites you to feel what it means to be human in today’s world. In this gathering, we revisit recent world history* from four continents, told by millennials who witnessed it first hand as children. By joining the gathering, you too become a witness to these stories. The durational performance is carried by continuous live music to enable us to hear the stories of the Bhopal gas tragedy in India, the Hidden ‘black’ children of China's One Child Policy, the Iran-Iraq War and state and narco violence in Mexico After each scene, audience members are invited to share their thoughts. These live responses shape how each gathering unfolds. No performance will ever be the same.
The combined stories form a testimony of global power dynamics, forces that disrupt even the most sincere bonds between humans. Nothing Bigger Than Humanity aims to relate again to the humanity we all share.
The light design aimed to create both a space to listen and a space to share, two important aims of the work. To listen we used moving lights focused on the details of the musicians - their hands and instruments, reorienting the gaze away from the music as performance, and inviting a more inward experience of listening and allowing the stories to affect the audience.
While sharing, it was important that the audience and performers inhabit the same space. We made use of a hanging screen to create indirect light, avoiding the exclusion of the spotlight, to hold everyone in the same soft light.
Concept, journalism, harp: Andrea Voets
Recorders, voice: Sarah Jeffery
Percussion: Yung-Tuan Ku
Outside-eye: Burkhard Körner
Light design: vinny Jones
Photography: Petra Nieuwburg
Production: Resonate Productions
In partnership with: De Balie, O., Splendor, Theater De Roode Bioscoop, CC Amstel.
With the support of: Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.
