Morphomen - Human Archetypes
Site-specific visual movement theatre
EVENT: Site Specific Performance Festival, PQ 2019
VENUE: Stromovka Park, Prague
PERFORMANCE DATES: 12 June 2019 10:15; 13 June 2019 17:15; 14 June 2019 10:15
Performers: Zsófia Bérczi, Diána Bodócs
Sound effects: Barnabás Tankó
Concept, scenography, directing: Zsófia Bérczi
Morphomen are manifestations of our archetypal patterns, that we embody in various shapes and colours embedded in elastic material. The country of these creatures is Morpholand which can be visited and experienced sometimes in abandoned, mysterious locations. In Stromovka Park, the main archetypes of the historical periods of the venue will come to life: from time of peace couples and families who spend their free time here, and from the war period archetypes of soldiers and victims.
The blue, melancolic morphoman represents the theme of thinking and feeling. The costume is a long, narrow elastic textile tube with two balls on both ends. The performer lifts up one of them onto his head, this will be the head of the character, where the thoughts are kept, and in the ball at the end of its tail the memories are kept.
The orange, sanguine character represents playfullness, variablity and diversity. Its costume is a piece of elastic textile tube in which the performer is transversely positioned so the costume works against straightening and the character takes always a grotesque shape. The orange character can be born from the blue one.
The red, choleric passionate morphoman character’s gestural language is struggle and pain. The costume itself is an elastic, thin and long tube, in one side stands the actor-animator and in the other side stands a stick. The performer can form different living sculptures from this costume. These shapes correspond to fighting, winning or ruthlessness, on the other side to loss and sacrifice.
The black phlegmatic morphoman shows the passive, accepting, wise sense of life. The costume is a long black tube starting from the performer's feet extending through the top of his head beyond his body, like a many meters long loosened hair or a long tail that’s end part is chafing the earth on a long surface and therefore the movement is physically difficult, it looks like plowing. This shape correspond to loneliness and meditation, so this character does not change her form, it just walks forward slowly. As a fruit of patience and perseverance, it finally experiences purification, the state of inner freedom: his black costume is seduced and the white anthropomorphic morphoman is born.
About the artists
Living Picture was founded in 2004 with the same reason that it follows now after 15 years: to create visual and interdisciplinary theatre performances, actions and living fine art works. It aspires to express a new formally and thematically new vision in which image and form, idea and imagination makes integral unity with performing arts and installation. The founder and leader of Livingpicture, designer and director of Livingpicture perfromances is Zsófia Bérczi, visual communication designer (University of Applied Arts, Budapest, 2003 (Moholy-Nagy University, Budapest, 2003).