Visual artist Rosa Doornenbal and workgroup

During our residency at Saari we develop the performance piece The Will to Believe on stage: ‘Will we Believe?’. Taking a magic show as inspiration, the performance is questioning what is perceived as real. On a deeper level the work is about how we make sense of the world, how we create hope, expectations and ideas about who we are. By tracing the way that cultural myths, popular media and capitalism fuel the way we identify, this work is about finding ways of being outside of those narratives. About being vulnerable, other, and proud and believing in something beyond the status quo. Where magic shows have historically revolved around a male magician using the rabbit and the female body as props to be vanished or sawn through, this performance will offer a different power dynamic. The magician is in this case nothing more (or less) then a 12-inch marionette who doesn’t realise he is being controlled by strings. Human actors perform the rest of the roles: the rabbit who is a mischievous trickster archetype, the charismatic assistant, and the mermaid who transforms into a witch during the show. Turning the tables, this performance centres on emancipating the creatures that have for too long been cast in the shadows.

The multimedia performance will be a medley of disciplines combining puppetry and stage magic together with grotesque mythological characters, a dose of humour and absurdity and mind-blowing plot twists; guess who turns out to be the puppet player? Collaboration and exchange to create cross pollination and growth is an important part of the process of creating this piece.