Performed by Sofia Chuhlazova and directed by Aljoscha at the National Circus of Ukraine, Kyiv.
We have a dystopian 2024, not Orwell's 1984.
The circus arena becomes, once again, a fight stage, as if in the times of Nero. The clowness, playing a soldier, fights an indefinite enemy. Bioisms in her hands serve as bio-weapons; she shoots and hurls them like grenades at unseen foes. Fear grips her with each response, amplified by the horror of her own actions. Trapped in a spiral of violence, she seeks but finds no escape behind the pile of carpets; the scene growing more frustrating and pathetic.
Behind every dictator, like Putin, and the mass killings they start lie layers of well-meant propaganda and ideological drilling, contorted into messages of hate. As in Orwell's 1984, mindcrimes flourish, and dehumanizing practices become the less scarring norm: a pervasive impact of ideological manipulation on social human behavior. The clowness's war game reflects how propaganda distorts reality, turning individuals and other beings into instruments of total destruction.
Chuhlazova’s increasing desperation mirrors the tragic consequences of perpetual violence and indoctrination. Her actions reflect the relentless cycle of sociocentric violence, highlighting a world where hate and fear dehumanize and engulf all in their path.
