Double/Act is an experimental theatre piece realized together with experimental theater group Il Libro Nero, the result of a process of hybridization between theatre, scenography, installation and generative art, freely inspired by Eugène Ionesco’s short play, “Double Act”.

The piece consists of a durational performance and an installation, which happen simultaneously in two different spaces. Double / Act raises fundamental social questions about how our perception of the world is manipulated by technologies and the rapid and constant metamorphosis that humanity suffered by human beings in their daily lives, habits, taste and customs, which eventually result in a loss of cultural identities.

The abstract characters of Double / Act are units of humanity in a maximum state of repression and manipulation, which merge and become totally fused with technology and the societal model. The removable body of the character mirrors the inner drama of a society that in support of mechanic response has gradually lost its identity and humanity. The perfection of this machinery that drives this constant metamorphosis, transforming characters into monsters, reveals the alienation of a perfect system. The audience is guided to a vision of futuristic imaginary, configured by the abolition of the boundaries between organic and inorganic: a world envisioned as a boundless and immanent hybridization.

There are several sensors in the costume of the maid that make her interact with the sounds of the play. All sounds are created in real-time using SuperCollider and those neat little devices from JeeLabs, which make it possible to transfer the sensor data via radio frequency to my laptop.

Here’s a 50 minute shot of the two hour performance in Frosinone, Italy:

Untitled from Il Libro Nero on Vimeo.