Fast Forward 2024

Manifestos exist in art and politics, in philosophy and sociology. They usually offer analyses of the existing world and outline proposals for the future, demand radical change or lament the utopias that still haven’t arrived, sometimes playfully, sometimes polemically. Some that use aggressive populism as their weapon. Others that try to calmly express the urgency of their issues for the open-minded reader. Isabel Costa’s production is interested in the latter category. Inspired by a project by the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, she has examined texts written after the year 2000 and put them together in a performance that the audience experiences in small groups as they walk through an empty building. There, the audience encounters seven performers one after the other, who recite extracts from seven manifestos: in an intimate situation and without the usual trappings of political activism, so that it is left up to the encounter and the person listening to see what resonates.

Isabel Costa, b. 1992, is an actress, cultural studies scholar, director and since 2014, a member of the Lisbon theatre collective, Os Possessos. She has been continually developing the manifestos project since 2019, with a focus on the theatrical encounter between performers and audience. It is her third production as a director. The performance at Fast Forward will be the first time the production has been performed outside of Portugal. The performances have been enabled by the EFFEA-Discovery programme, an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA), co-funded by the European Union.

With Catarina Rôlo Salgueiro, Dori Nigro, João Pedro Mamede, Leonor Buescu, Leonor Cabral, Mia Tomé, Rafa Jacinto

Text Selection, Concept & Directing Isabel Costa

Live interpeters Kay Castelo, Zaza Leah Gorges, Paul Petzold, Isabelle Pohle, Helen C. Simpson u. a. Adaptation of the English & of the German version Rosa Churcher Clark, Samir Sellami Collaboration in Dramaturgy Daniel Gamito Marques Costume Joana Subtil, Vera Salminen Photos Leonor Fonseca, Telmo Pereira (Portrait Isabel Costa)

Production Leonardo Garibaldi Coproduction Caixa Geral de Depósitos Foundation Culturgest, Walk&Talk

With the support from CM Lisboa e Polo Cultural Gaivotas, Boavista The residency „developing Isabel Costas MANIFESTOS PARA DEPOIS DO FIM DO MUNDO for international audiences“ is supported by the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – EFFEA, an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA), co-funded by the European Union.

The performances in the framework of Fast Forward take place with the support from Camōes Berlim, Botschaft Cultura Portugal.

This performance is not wheelchair accessible.