ROXANNE
Radioplay (proloog)
Muziek (laatste nummers)
Roxanne - Frascati Theater (Mei 22')
Een verkenning van de eigenheid van het tussenin zijn en de mythen die we onszelf daarover vertellen.
Wat betekent het om het tussenin te bezetten? Tussen het genderbinaire in. Tussen seksualiteiten in. Tussen nationaliteiten in. Tussen huizen in. Tussen geliefden in. Wat zijn de beperkingen van deze tusseninheid, en kan het bevrijdend werken?
Deze vragen vormen de basis van Roxanne, een muziektheatervoorstelling-tentoonstelling die creatieve inspiratie haalt uit de cultklassieker Hedwig en The Angry Inch uit 2001. Net als het personage in de film, voelt Roxanne zich beperkt door diens liminale status in de wereld: leven tussen identiteiten. Letterlijk gebonden door touwen en gemaskeerd in stof, vormt Roxanne diens identiteit rond diens beperkingen. Kan die zich ontdoen van de beperkingen die de maatschappij hen oplegt, of is Roxanne voorbestemd om voor altijd gebonden te zijn?
Door gebruik te maken van een breed scala aan artistieke media - van audio tot mime - probeert Roxanne het tussenin te contextualiseren door middel van tentoonstellingen. Roxanne fungeert als onze ceremoniemeester en leidt de toeschouwer door de verschillende voorstellingen die ons bewust maken van de identiteiten die naast het heteronormatieve bestaan.
Credits
Regie en lyrics - Igor Alvarez Cugat
Scenografie en kostuums. - Katrin Naftz - Alex Van den Akker
Muziek en compositie - Nick Verschoor - Chet Moerland
Dramaturgie - Jordan Scott Hardesty
Productie - Matilda Rasquin
Productie assistent - Sascha de Jong
Technische productie - Otte Stoltenborg - Berend Van Leer
Lichtontwerp - Jasper Kayser
Geluid - Aya Dupont - Bram Van Gamelen
Tekst gemaakt door het ensemble
Met:
Roxanne - Jacob Moen
Matilda - Rowan Kievits
Roxette - Mher Brutyan
Roshelle - Lana Van Der Brug
Rossie - Nick Verschoor
Rhona - Chet Moerland
Bart the bartender - Agrî Issa
Audrey - Audrey Helwes
Artwork - Carlos Marló Fotografie - Ben van Duin & Robert van der Ree
Our thoughts
People around the world face violence and inequality—and sometimes torture, even execution—because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.
Imagine your personal identity, as a thought experiment. What is your nationality? Where were you born? What is your sexuality? Your gender? What is your race? Your ethnicity? What is your job? Your religion? What other beliefs, roles, identity markers are important to you?
Society by design wants clear answers to these questions. The gender you are assigned at birth can shape your entire life as society projects on you limitations of interests, jobs, and even personality traits. Your nationality too, is thought to be a stable part of your identity as if you cannot lose affiliation with your country of birth.
Life proves to be much more complex than the clear-cut and balanced world that Western society tries to enforce. You can be gender non-binary or agender, bisexual or pansexual or asexual, mixed race, agnostic, a jack-of-all-trades. These identities occupy an in-between, as it relates to societal norms, and that in-betweenness can be felt when individuals with such identities try to find community.
In reality, those that occupy the in-between are more likely to feel like an Other. Mental health and suicide statistics are often deeply connected to these identities. Philosophers and sociologists like Foucault and Derrida have looked at how those with identities that don’t fit into the boxes of society form identities around their otherness and can even believe that they are in the wrong. Queer theorists and intersectional feminists have sought since at least the 1980s to repair the harm of society on certain identities and move towards a certain liberation. Small victories have been won in terms of representation and acceptance in greater society, but much of the change has still yet to happen.
Roxanne is a character that occupies the in-between in every form possible. They are the embodiment of this idea. They are bound and limited in her movement, and they are covered in walls. This piece is meant to explore the in-between, and also try to repair the damage that has been done.
We work for a world where all people can enjoy their identities fully.
By Jordan Scott Hardesty
Dramaturg.