Technostalgia

Welcome to Mars.

What if all people suddenly disappear, can technology continue without us? Or would technology miss us?

Welcome to Mars. You take a walk among the remains of an abandoned human colony. The residents who once settled here have disappeared without a trace. Strolling through the Pompeii of the future, you hear a soundtrack of stories, music, conversations and live ambient sounds, led by a guide who has been left behind there.

Technostalgia takes you into the future. Mankind has left Earth and attempted to settle on Mars. But life on Mars appears much more hostile than imagined and everyone gets chronic nostalgia for Earth. Again man searches for a new place. Somewhere in infinity there must be a place where everything is good and beautiful?

A last servant left behind welcomes us. Together we walk through the remains of an abandoned world. He looks back with us at the fruitless attempts of man to shape a new world here. We are introduced to former Mars residents; a demented, pregnant young woman, a father whose child wants to play outside, a biologist with the task of growing edible food and a race-optimistic man. Through headphones we hear their stories, fragments of dialogues from the past, live ambient sounds and music, while we wander through the abandoned landscape.

In co-production with Strijbos & Van Rijswijk, the Ulrike Quade Company went on an archaeological discovery tour in Technostalgia in the dune landscape of Terschelling during Oerol, 14 to 23 June 2019.

Under the direction of Ulrike Quade, with music by composer duo Strijbos & Van Rijswijk, text by filmwriter Marcel Roijaards and the voice of actor Rick Paul van Mulligen, Technostalgia becomes an audio tour that takes you through the deserted landscape of Mars.

Technostalgia

,,Is there life on Mars? Almost fifty years after David Bowie asks the same question, Ulrike Quade Company answers. And not in a way that will cheer you up.’’

Theaterkrant

,,This modern Iliad is the showpiece of a futuristic edition of Oerol (…) An ominous space adventure that nicely combines sound and landscape.’’

NRC Handelsblad

,,A Mars colony and the downfall of sailor life: Oerol is filled with dark visions of the future (…) A cleverly made audio tour that breathes the spheres of a sick future much like the Netflix success show Black Mirror.’’

Volkskrant

Credits

Director: Ulrike Quade
Musical concept & composition: Strijbos & Van Rijswijk
Text: Marcel Roijaards
Performers: Kenzo Kusuda, Alidtcha Binazon, Niels van Heijningen, Tom de Ronde
Dramaturgy: Thomas Lamers
Costume design: Carly Everaert
Scenography: Kevin Pieterse en Noor Stenfert Kroese o.l.v. Sacha Zwiers
Choreography: Kenzo Kusuda
Voice: Rick Paul van Mulligen
Assistant director: Suze van Miltenburg
Translation script: Arthur Eaton
Technique: Michael Yallop, Merijn Boers
Photography: Anouk van Kalmthout
Scene photo’s: Ben van Duin and Nichon Glerum

With thanks to: Academy of Theater and Dance (Amsterdam), Marijn Klaver, Dominic Kraemer, Markoesa Hamer, Sacha Muller, Marc Stoffels, Barnaby Savage, Alidtcha Binanzon, Tobias Brown, Noah Voelker, Gabriel Casanova Miralda, Felix Ruiter, Michaela Riener en Dyane Donck.

Technostalgia is made possible in part by: Performing Arts Fund, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Municipality of Tilburg, Province of Noord-Brabant, Lira Fund and [ºº] elephantcandy