SAD SAM ALMOST 6

IN ALL INNOCENCE
Totally absorbed by his game, a child teaches a class to a horde of animal figurines, giving them orders, encouraging them, snubbing them. He exercises his control with authoritarian outbursts and soothing speeches, and exorcises his fears using paper costumes. Slowly trouble insinuates itself into this childhood scene. The tender blond head is supplanted by a cruel despot; the happy-go-lucky attitude gives way to anxiety, the situation now precarious. Growing up is not easy. The world of adults is maybe not so idyllic after all.

A dynamic emerging performance artist in the Balkan avant-garde, Matija Ferlin conveys with impressive fidelity the discrepancy between a child’s viewpoint and that of an adult in Sad Sam Almost 6, questioning our perception of the world. This subtle, disturbing piece stands in sharp contrast to Sad Sam Lucky, another solo work presented at the Festival.

PRODUCED BY EMANAT INSTITUTE + FERLIN D.O.O
CREATED AND PERFORMED BY MATIJA FERLIN
DRAMATURG KATJA PRAZNIK
SET DESIGN ARTIKL + SILVIO ŽIVKOVIĆ
COSTUME DESIGN ARTIKL
LIGHTING DESIGN SAŠA FISTRIĆ + URŠKA VOHAR

COPRODUCTION CHEZ BUSWICK (NEW YORK) + BUNKER – THE OLD POWER STATION ELEKTRO (LJUBLJANA)
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF ISTRIA REGION + MINISTRY OF CULTURE (SLOVENIA) AND THE SUPPORT OF TANZQUARTIER WIEN + KULTURKONTAKT AUSTRIA THROUGH ITS PROGRAM ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH MONUMENT-NATIONAL

WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH

PREMIERED AT STARA MESTNA ELEKTRARNA, ELEKTRO LJUBLJANA, JANUARY 30, 2009