Varja Hrvatin: Stampedo

Running time: The performance lasts approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Warning:
This production includes strobe lighting and occasional bright flashes of light that, together with other visual stimulation effects, may induce a feeling of claustrophobia in visitors.

Stampedo delves into the importance of safety; what it specifically means today for both individuals and society. In examining human stampedes, the project identifies the right to safety as a fundamental human right and, in doing so, underscores the role of the state and the competent authorities in ensuring it. Thus focusing on the economic factor as the main cause of human stampedes, the project primarily raises a series of questions ranging from the negligent dimensions of capitalism, which jeopardizes human lives for profit, class stratification and the issue of economic power that prevails over justice and law, to the question of responsibility towards oneself and others and the search for justice, which may never be served. The economic context (free admission, special offers, cheaper tickets, etc.) is taken as a basis for addressing the meaning of "hype," mass panic, collective organization, human value, and the basic human right to safety. It provides insight into present-day modes of living – the never-ending rat race and hyper-production – and how to break free from this exhausting routine, how to ease off and unwind. Production-wise, the project combines documentary materials and interactive processes, tapping into the principles of intermedia to explore and juggle with the dimensions of a theatrical event.

Acknowledgement: INPLET d.o.o. (donor), Peace Institute (supporter), Urban d.o.o. (donor), JSKD (podpornik), Zala Jelenc, Miha Turk, Nejc Jezernik, Eneja Štemberger in Mitja Kralj.