Mini Teater, Ljubljana, premiere 28th February 2025
“abandon reality, you who enter”
Directed by Jan Krmelj, and created together with a team of young theatre artists, Oil is a hybrid performance using documentary theatre and performative techniques to gradually construct the story of the artistic collective R.MUTT.
The name refers to Duchamp’s urinal, an image of which was published in a newspaper, signed with the mysterious pseudonym “R. Mutt”. That’s when questions arose. Questions about authenticity and the reproduction of artwork. Today, almost 100 years later, it is almost impossible to draw a line between the two.
The performance unravels the story of a group of artistic activists who, between 2019 and 2023, ran an experimental but mysterious podcast called “O.I.L.” It became widely known primarily after its final episode when its recording studio and its anonymous host were flooded during a live broadcast. All the artists were also connected by the fact that, at some point in their lives, they were indirectly linked to the global oil industry – either fleeing from it or radically immersing themselves in it. The collective is also rumoured to be the author of the art exhibition “Transparency”, which has seemingly vanished without a trace, as it continuously erased itself. With this, we step into their story – onto a ground where fiction is just another layer of reality, and vice versa.
The performance opens with a recording of a Zoom conversation between actor Filip Mramor and Lara Kaiser, the curator of the mysterious exhibition. Throughout the performance, we follow several short video interventions by Mramor – serving as a kind of alienation effect – introducing yet another form of documentary exploration into the enigmatic circumstances of the collective. The core of the performance are actors Jernej Gašperin, Diana Kolenc, Mojka Končar, Gašper Lovrec, and Lucija Ostan Verjup. Through collective acting, they create an atmosphere of a close-knit community, which is rare in today’s individualistic world. By shifting perspectives – sometimes as actors, researchers, or characters – they portray the lives of five members of the artistic collective R.MUTT. Each has its own story, yet in the end, they form nothing less than a mosaic of the whole.
The set design by Lin Japelj resembles a podcast recording studio – complete with a table, chairs, and microphones. But with the use of a camera operated by the actors, which projects the stage action onto a wall, it reaches into other dimensions. In this way, we – the audience – follow the episodes in which the actors introduce themselves or exhibit themselves. One of the most striking elements of the performance is a miniature space that the actors animate in real-time. From the recording studio and a parking lot filled with cars to a swimming pool overtaken by oil, the miniature world is brought to life before our eyes. The camera zooms in, magnifying this tiny universe on a grand scale. With duplication and optical effects, the human being – now more than ever – appears as nothing more than a small ant in an infinite cosmos. An ant that is destroying its own anthill.
Oil, Mini Teater, Ljubljana. Photos: Dorian Šilec Petek
Director Jan Krmelj and dramaturg Jernej Potočan constructed the performance through hybrid forms of staging. By weaving together lectures, sound installations, podcasts, documentary theatre, and the animation of a miniature world of objects, they continuously questioned how objectivity can be conveyed – or whether it is even possible. The illusion of reality, which the documentary format supposedly represents, remains ever-present in the air. The performance thus raises the question: “What is documentary theatre, and where are its boundaries?” Where exactly is the line between fiction and reality, and where does documentary storytelling fit into this narrative? By layering multiple levels of reality, it also explores the theme of manipulation – something that is impossible to fully escape, even in everyday life. The ground beneath us can shake at any moment, no matter how firmly we believe we have built the strongest foundations. At the same time, the performance opens up questions relevant to the era of internet dominance. We live in a world of data capitalism. After the death of our biological bodies, our virtual selves will still exist. Have we, as humanity, finally achieved infinity? Have we found a way to prevent our own transience, our ability to slip away and die without leaving a digital trace? And if so – can we still call ourselves human?
There has been a trend for incorporating podcasts into theatre in recent years in Slovenian theatre. Younger-generation creators are experimenting with the performative and theatrical potential of podcasts in various ways on stage. At first glance, Oil resembles productions like Krmelj’s 2022 production Rupture or Boško and Admira directed by Živa Bizovičar for Mladinsko Theatre, due to their similar approach to documentary theatre, use of format, integration of podcast elements, duplication of action through cameras, storytelling techniques, and collective acting. However, Oil elevates itself beyond these productions, particularly through the addition of the miniature space and the persistent atmosphere of anxiety it generates. Moreover, it dares to take a step further in redefining the concept of “documentary theatre,” carving out a new path – one that holds exciting potential for future exploration.
One of the most powerful images in the performance is a file binder that, through the actress’s animation, soars across the stage’s imaginary sky. It transforms – becoming a bird, an animal, a robot, a digital animation. One day, it will rule the world. By then, trees will be uprooted. Drought will take over. Food will run out. Humanity will exist only as data, stored within social networks. An anti-utopian story unfolds – a history doomed to repeat itself. Just as it once erased the dinosaurs, this time it will consume all living beings and their habitats. And then, in the end, we will all be reunited – merged into a liquid called oil. United inequality. United in oneness.
If we enter the performance by abandoning reality as we know it, we may leave through its own original variation of Dante’s words in Inferno: “abandon hope, all ye who enter”
Credits:
Director and music composer: Jan Krmelj//Dramaturg: Jernej Potočan//Stage designer: Lin Japelj//Costume designer: Brina Vidic// Video interventions:
Filip Mramor
Cast: Jernej Gašperin, Diana Kolenc, Mojka Končar, Gašper Lovrec, Lucija Ostan Vejrup
For tickets and further information visit: mini-teater.si
Further reading: Review of Rupture
Nika Šoštarič is a master's student of dramaturgy and performing art. She is also a writer, playwright and a world traveler.
