In this show, Miguel Maia presents a distorted version of The Wild Duck , by Henrik Ibsen.

In this loose adaptation, the work revolves around the limbo between the actor's physical presence, inherent to theater, and the dizzying images present in all spheres of human experience. Ibsen, one of the fathers of naturalism in theater, who sought to show things on stage as they were, pursued a certain idea of verisimilitude while maintaining a strong symbolic glow.

 

How do we relate today to the search for truth, in a context of spectator-directors, clinging to their hyperbolic avatars on networks like TikTok , or in infinite scenarios of some metaverse?

 

If before we were looking for the truth on stage, what are we looking for now?

 

 

In "1 Wild Duck," the relationship between image and the performer's presence on stage is explored, as well as the relationship between this and the idea of reality. Drawing on the historical tension between photography and cinema, and between cinema and theater, the performance will use Ibsen's seminal text, combining its symbolic potential with the expressive power of posts on social media platforms like TikTok™.

 

The show features four performers on stage, with a scenic arrangement that, reflecting the intersection of Ibsen's classic with a contemporary approach influenced by imagery, blends figurative and abstract elements framed by one or more screens where part of the action unfolds, in the form of images. In a constant interplay between the exacerbation of details and frequent dramatic ellipses, accompanied by another action unfolding on the screen, the story of the wild duck's fate is thus dismembered and reemerged with new meaning.

 

The drama is exposed so that we can question how we like to feel connected to a story - whether through its raw verisimilitude with reality, or instead through its ability to be artificially represented, exaggerated and amplified, as exemplified by the stories and avatars that populate our social networks.