Mladinsko Theatre, premiere 16th October 2024
Some admire them, their intelligence and cleverness. Others fear them because of the historical symbolism. They may have once been an omen of death and evil due to their black plumage. They were the ones who followed the army during wars to feed on the dead. They inhabit almost all countries and even the Tower of London, where they are very popular. We are talking about crows, of which there are more than a dozen subspecies, all belonging to the same family. Their slight differences, however, can cause a lot of controversy.
Crows are the main characters in Žiga Divjak’s latest performance lecture, The Flock. It follows the fate of a clan of exotic birds which migrated to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. There, they were subjected to extermination by Arie den Hertog, who hunted them from his black van, due to their alleged threat to native subspecies. The story can be interpreted on a deeper level, addressing themes of capitalism and globalization and their impact on animals, as well as reflecting on migration.
The actors (Lina Akif, Primož Bezjak, Damjana Černe, Iztok Drabik Jug, Janja Majzelj, Maruša Oblak, Matej Recer, Blaž Šef, Vito Weis, Lara Wolf) move one by one from among the audience to the empty platform on the stage to tell the story of a pair of exotic crows that arrived in the Netherlands by ship in 1994. The actors speculate on why the birds ended up on the ship. Some speak of war, others of searching for food, while some suggest personified family problems or simple curiosity.
One might think that the story of these birds will evolve into a story about all of us – migrating animals and humans. This happens but only to a small extent. The actors sit next to each other in a row, mimicking a photo displayed behind them, showing crows perched on a wire. They spend almost the entire performance in this arrangement. The story of the crows is interrupted several times by attempts to give it a global interpretation, in which actress Lara Wolf speaks about her mixed roots – a result of human migration. Another scene reflects on the globalization of markets and capitalism. Actor Iztok Drabik Jug examines his clothes and items in his backpack to check where they were produced. These are small interjections that attempt to steer the interpretation, however they are overshadowed by the story of the birds, around which the entire narrative revolves. A significant portion of the performance is dedicated to a detailed, meticulous investigation into how each bird was killed. The actors show photos of dead animals they managed to obtain in the Netherlands and hang them on “walls” created from the platforms they had previously sat on, having positioned them vertically. The lecture ends with the death of the last crow – and with the final actress leaving the room.
In addition to the narrative about the birds, the performance also contains elements of auto theatre, as the actors construct a narrative about themselves. The entire acting troupe, along with the director, went to the Netherlands to look for traces of the birds. The theatremakers present the process of their own research in a humorous way with a slideshow displayed on the back wall. This strand of the piece, in addition to supporting the crows’ storyline, has a critical and reflective function. They actors attempt to highlight how travel and transport supports migration, however, the inclusion of this part seems unnecessary, with an overreliance on “funny” interjections about buying coffee, instead of focusing on the issues the viewer is trying to decode.
The set consists of a platform, which over the course of the show, is placed vertically. In addition to this, photos of the birds, photos from the team’s trip, and various maps are projected on the back wall. This accentuates the impression that this a performative lecture, as projected slides are usually part of university lectures. The costumes of the actors are primarily black, as is the black plumage of the crows, which make it easier to identify the actors with the birds, especially since they often symbolically mimic the behaviour of the birds by, for example, sitting next to each other like birds do on a wire.
In The Flock, the actors form a kind of a collective body in which none of them stands out. They do not have specific roles or characters; their sole purpose is to present the story of the birds. If something happens on stage, it is a re-enactment of spoken text. In a scene featuring a conversation with a professor, one actor embodies the professor while the others listen, but the professor is not given a personality, we are simply provided with a description of the situation. When the process of exterminating the birds is recounted, the actors stand closely together, protecting each other as if from an approaching danger. However, such scenes can be counted on one hand. The minimalist approach prevents the actors of Mladinsko from fully showcasing their talents, which is a pity because Divjak has gathered together a group of performers who are extremely talented.
The subject of crows clearly fascinates Divjak and he has done tremendous research about their situation in the Netherlands. The fact that it is an ecological-themed performance should come as no surprise. The director has previously shown his interest in climate catastrophe and other environmental topics in previous performances including Fever, The Future and Crises. However, these earlier works effectively illustrated and analysed the mechanisms of the anthropocene, as well as situations involving activism and climate issues. In this case, it is evident his focus is narrower, focused predominantly on the crows rather than on a broader, in-depth analysis of society. For Divjak, this societal analysis cumulates with simplistic statements acknowledging that, yes, we are living in an era of capitalism and migration.
The story of the crows, like many other legends or fairy tales about these animals, is inherently allegorical and could have been presented in an interesting way. In Divjak’s hands, it becomes boring, primarily due to its use of repetitive, static scenes that focus more on telling the story than showing it. It lacks the finesse and creativity of Divjak’s other works. In Crises, it was the unconventional concept that stimulated the audience’s mind. In Fever (my favourite of the director’s performances), it was the set design, the vocal layers, and the variety of theatrical tools he used to engage the senses. The director is clearly capable of creating a unique form for a performance to make it engaging. In The Flock, however, we just got a static, classic performative lecture that did little to spark the imagination. It feels like a missed opportunity.
This opens up a space for reflection on activist and engaged theatre. How can we educate and raise awareness of important issues without falling into a tone of lecturing or didacticism? Since performative lectures gained popularity, their influence has not waned, and directors continue to embrace this form of documentary theatre. While I do not view the desire of artists to conduct in-depth research, often of an academic nature, or the connection between theatre and science in general, as a negative, the dominance of this form of academic lecture in theatre has become problematic for me. In the sense of Schechner’s performativity, yes, this lecture can be considered a performance. However, the question arises: what about other theatrical means – scenic metaphor and other art forms related to theatre, such as visual arts, set design, costumes, new media, visualizations – that are disappearing as a result? Can the elimination of “theatre within theatre” work in favour of activism? In my opinion, the strength of ‘artivism,’ ecological and engaged theatre has always been its ability to impact emotions and senses in a way that differs from academic and street activism, whereas here it simply mimicked the form.
Credits
Directed by: Žiga Divjak//Dramaturgy: Goran Injac, Gregor Zorc//Set design: Žiga Divjak//Costume design: Tina Pavlović//Music: Blaž Gracar//Lighting design: Borut Bučinel//Language consultant: Mateja Dermelj
Cast: Lina Akif, Primož Bezjak, Damjana Černe, Iztok Drabik Jug, Janja Majzelj, Maruša Oblak, Matej Recer, Blaž Šef, Vito Weis, Lara Wolf
For more information, visit Mladinsko.com
Further reading: review of Fever
Further reading: review of Crises
Karolina Bugajak is a theater critic from Poland, currently living in Ljubljana. She studied culture and contemporary art at the University of Lodz. The title of her master's thesis was "Theatricality and Exaggeration. Camp aesthetics as a strategy for creating new identities in the plays of Grzegorz Jaremko". Her main theatrical interests include topics such as institutional criticism, the representation of marginalized groups in plays, and most recently the theater of the former Yugoslav states.
