A clash between human ingenuity and exhaustion.
A man embarks on a physical exchange with iron weights. Dealing with the awkwardness forces his body into a new shape with every movement. This play results in a fragile, ever-expanding composition implying effort and collapse.
Besides their original purpose of weighing crops, kettlebells are firmly linked to workout culture and their use by soldiers, athletes and strongmen. In GIREVIK we see an object that has stood as a symbol of strength for centuries in a striking new dimension.
The piece challenges the historically hyper-masculine aura around the kettlebell and seeks an alternative poetics of labour.
Venue: Black box, special interiors
Stage: frontal, minimal 8m (depth) x 7m (width) x 4m (height)
Length: 45 minutes
Age of audience: 8+
Premiere: Cirkopolis 2024, Prague
Creation and Performance: Roman Škadra
Research Collaboration: Benjamin Richter, Aleksandras Lempertas
Creative Advice: Benjamin Richter, Darragh McLoughlin, Claudio Stellato
Kettlebell Coach: Frank Kraft
Sound: Aleksandras Lempertas
Light: Piotr Lemieszczuk
Stage Construction: Tomasz Bajsarovicz
Costume and Production: Anna-Katharina Andrees
Partners/Coproduction: Cirqueon - Center for new circus, Center for the Development of Choreography SE.S.TA
Funding: Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media within the program NEUSTART KULTUR.
Residencies: Berlin Theaterhaus - Kulturinitiative Förderband gGmbH Berlin, schloss bröllin e.V., Ringlokschuppen Ruhr Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, SE.S.TA Žďár nad Sázavou, Cirqueon Prague, Jatka78 Prague.
