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Overload

Un ipertesto teatrale sull'ecologia dell'attenzione

1 paragraph. 199 words. 1282 characters. Estimated time 1’ 10’’.

Can you read this text without stopping?
Attention is a form of alienation – the point is to know what alienates you. That’s why we always look lost in looking for something – even when we only make a few imperceptible gestures, glued to small bright bubbles. You do not understand who is listening and talking, who works and who is having fun, who really finds something and who is just confused. Have you come here without moving your gaze? Really? Isn’t this effort to do one thing at a time truly unbearable? Look around you – how many other things attract your attention? Now look at yourself from above – can you see yourself? The surfaces of the most densely populated regions on Earth are covered by a dense fog of messages, images and sounds. That’s where people move, interact, sleep. Sometimes more intense noises are heard, quickly absorbed by this fog as it flashes and resounds. Seen from here the planet seems just too loud and distracted to survive – even the glaciers melt too slowly for someone to pay attention to them. Let’s go back to the ground and look closely – we’re all mutating … into something that’s very, very fast.

Credits

*** OVERLOAD IS WINNER OF UBU AWARD for BEST THEATRE SHOW 2018 ***
*** OVERLOAD [STUDIO] IS WINNER OF BEST OF BE FESTIVAL TOUR 2016 (tour in Spain & UK) ***

concept and direction Sotterraneo
on stage Sara Bonaventura, Claudio Cirri, Lorenza Guerrini, Daniele Pennati, Giulio Santolini
dramaturgy Daniele Villa

light design Marco Santambrogio
costumes Laura Dondoli
sound design Mattia Tuliozi
props Francesco Silei
graphic design Isabella Ahmadzadeh

production Sotterraneo
coproduction Teatro Nacional D. Maria II nell’ambito di APAP – Performing Europe 2020, Programma Europa Creativa dell’Unione Europea
contribution Centrale Fies_art work space, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG
with the support of Comune di Firenze, Regione Toscana, Mibact, Funder 35, Sillumina – copia privata per i giovani, per la cultura

artistic residencies Teatri di Pistoia, Tram – Attodue, Teatro Metastasio di Prato, Centrale Fies_art work space, Dialoghi – Residenze delle arti performative a Villa Manin, La Corte Ospitale – progetto residenziale 2017, Teatro Studio/Teatro della Toscana, Teatro Cantiere Florida/Multiresidenza FLOW

Sotterraneo is part of the Fies Factory, associate artist at Piccolo Teatro Milano and is resident at Teatri di Pistoia

loghi_apap

PRESS REVIEW

«Overload – Sotterraneo’s most recent production – deals with one of today’s most serious and abstract issues, i.e. information overload and hypertextuality taking hold on the way humans relate to the world and communicate with each other. From their early days, Sotterraneo company’s shows have tackled the demise of narrative determinism and are characterized by an interaction with the audience. This time, Sotterraneo seem to be aiming higher. The aspect of game – always present in their works -, seems to hint at the madness pervading the world of communication and the illusion of knowledge. At last, theatre becomes an instrument of collective thought.»

Anna Bandettini, La Repubblica

«Overload by Sotterraneo is “just” a playful, chilling show revolving around a solid anthropological fact. In this age of a myriad digital devices, human attention span is inexorably decreasing and fragmenting. This idea, in a nutshell, is the starting point on which Sotterraneo’s new show is based. This is constructed as a game which actively involves the audience, and characterized by sharp wit as well as mockery, depicting – not quite reassuringly – how humans are evolving (or involving?)».

Claudia Cannella, Hystrio

«In experimental works by companies that have chosen to diverge from classical drama, we find a fanatical attention to detail – the art of polishing aimed to transform body and voice into a theatrical mask, which belongs to the best acting tradition. Somehow, these works all have got to do with ghosts. We are not just talking about an ectoplasmic presence here – although indeed there are some -, but also about the ability of a theatrical piece to give body to the obsessions, the ‘ghosts’ of our current times, or simply to what cannot be said or seen. As the title suggests, Overload aims to explore one of the most stringent, problematic issues of our times – i.e., information overload, that has led to the shrinking of the average human attention span. The language used on stage is both light and corrosive, driven to paroxysm in the show’s final scene. After all, what else is theatre for if not to evoke ghosts?».

Graziano Graziani, Minima et Moralia

«Attention has turned into a precious commodity – more attention equals more time, thus more money. We live in an era of mirror neurons and perennial advertising, which makes little effort to appeal to people’s fragile desires and might have already exhausted the reservoir of the unconscious. This is the main focus of Overload, Sotterraneo’s latest show. US writer David Foster Wallace is featured as a spiritual guide of a journey that is the epitome of our new times. It sums up tensions and aspirations of the 80s and 90s generations, somewhat anticipating the changes under way. Wallace’s intention is to talk about “reality” – or rather how one can survive in the age of information overload. Overload is a show that no longer aims to mirror the audience as they are, rather to work as a smartphone or computer screen on which the human image is broken down into a thousand links in an haphazard analogy of advertising interference. There is no mirror to sink into – as the mirror has stolen the ego. The reflecting unconscious has clearly been tampered with by someone else. So let’s just be numb and happy. Indeed, numb and happy. After all, as if under the effect of a sophisticated drug, human neuroses easily find an outlet valve, the world contracts into a few centimetres, and there is no need for much more. We are self-sufficient at last.».

Rodolfo Sacchettini, Gli Asini

«Overload is packed with pitfalls. An overload of actions and pressing visions not only tell us of our short attention span and hyper-textuality – the stated focus of this show-, but also make us wonder how this underlying cognitive system came into being in the first place. That very system we are immersed in – without (almost) even realizing it. Because everything seems to be ‘real’ and ‘fake’ at the same time; this is the definition of the theater per se, but a definition which here takes the shape of a bitter portrait of our times».

Stefano Casi, Casi Critici

«With their shrewd, ironic, and playful taste of the grotesque, Sotterraneo put on stage the things we miss out on day in and day out due to our rhapsodic attention and anxiety to pile up actions and words. A rambunctious, but carefully thought-out performance, characterized by an ending that will force you to stop laughing and to rethink (from a different angle) what you had seen in the previous fifty minutes. Further, it makes you want to (re)read David Foster Wallace.».

Laura Bevione, PAC Paneacquaculture

«The theater show created by the Florentine company is in the making as it is performed. There is indeed a need to look at time and space on a par with technological progress. In the meanwhile, for every truth that emerges during the show, there is a component of corrosive bitterness and ironic fatalism ready to digest it».

Francesca Pierri,  Teatro e Critica

«Sotterraneo’s Overload aptly depicts the mental state of feeling disoriented as it shows new contents being compulsively activated. Babelic fragmentation and an attention span shorter than a goldfish.»

Magda Poli, Corriere della Sera

«According to Florence’s Sotterraneo company, no rebirth is possible. Their ironic and surreal show, Overload, focuses on the figure (and work) of David Foster Wallace. All sorts of things happen – even their own death. As in any day of our lives. And there will be silence, at last.»

Mariateresa Surianello, Il Manifesto

«We live in a society which demands or allows a virtual world to triumph over the real one – a distracted world emptied of logic and vitality. In this context, Sotteraneo creates an almost fairylike collage with lightness and depth, irony and commitment. Their show is packed with unusual associations, resulting in an effect of grotesque alienation. This is also perceived when one reads Wallace’s literary works, similar to that of a computer used to puts into words the mode of “thought” that precedes the action, unbeknown to its user-reader».

Renata Savo, Scene Contemporanee

«In Sotterraneo’s Overload an intimate awareness of reality is brought to visual and dramaturgical life. The show’s pressing rhythm does not leave any room to pauses or silences. Instead, it forces us to live in an eternal present, dominated by information overload. Sotterraneo do not stop at mere provocation, rather it is a lucid reflection on the contradictions taking hold of our times. Their style is rigorous and bursting, confirming an authentic and forthright fidelity to reality. Indeed, in order to survive in this information overload we ought to hold our breath, or learn to breathe underwater – or rather, to change into new forms, to become a man-fish swimming around (at last, alone) in this ‘submerged’ present».

Giusi de Santis, Paper Street

«Through irony and playfulness, Sotterraneo have created an acute, intelligent, witty – and never banal r- eflection on the world of attention, the human ability to pick up the thread, and on how to resist to the many iconic, media, distracting stimuli we are constantly exposed to. Sotterraneo’s Overload is possibly their most mature work, showing deeper analysis and the ability to tackle core issues through sheer, heartbreaking and elegant poetics. For instance, one scene involves hugging a man-fish who can’t breathe due to lack of oxygen and who reminds us of what we are – constantly meandering from one Internet link to another in search of some truth. That is, if we are lucky. Otherwise, most of the times we are simply at the mercy of a collective and individual dizziness that is annihilating our thought processes. After Overload, you’ll walk out more aware of your weaknesses – how information is being fragmented, how we are being distracted from thinking, and attention is in danger of disappearing. This will automatically lead us to a state of unconsciousness, condemn us to an inability to focus on what really matters – that is, to be human and as such share an idea of the world and solidarity of respect toward those who are different from us»

Nicola Arrigoni, Sipario

«The whole show is witty, irreverent, smart, and cute. Its visual Landscape goes through revolution after revolution. Each fast change brings a laugh, gasp or some other exclamation, and somehow a half-man half- sh ends up as the most profoundly touching character».

Will Amott, www.stagetalkmagazine.com

«The piece can best be described as perhaps organised chaos. During the 30-minute performance, we saw a cacophony of inner thoughts played out that made for a completely spontaneous and unknowing performance. They were always playful and in a peculiar way, because each scene had an average of ten seconds, the audience were captured from beginning to end. Sotterraneo were constantly funny, with scenes of a gospel choir to a character of a hybrid between man and sh. The company created a raucous atmosphere of complete and utter fun. They infected the audience with their comic playfulness and matter-of-fact approach [and]gave us the best of both worlds, in that we were constantly delighted with their jovial energy, but also understood the science behind the human mind with an effective and highly memorable approach to theatre».

Elizabeth Halpin, www.behindthearras.com

«In Overload the Florentine group Sotterraneo plays with the progressive loss of attention that we would be driving to the abusive use of new information technologies, leading to absurd and surreal effects as ends of this supposed cognitive de cit. The result is a hilarious succession of scenes in the most varied contexts and situations (from the ceremony of the Oscars to a Miss Universe contest) interrupted abruptly last 8 seconds from the start, maximum time before attention it disperses or sued by other requirements. And back again. The result is an energetic pace that does not decline at any time, thanks to the inventiveness and genious of the actors (two actors and two actresses) to connect with the “trending topics” that modulate our everyday experience of reality like hit “tweets”, “podcasts” or screen shots».

Gordon Craig, www.elheraldodelhenares.com

SEE ALL PRESS REVIEWS

Video Content

OVERLOAD

GALLERY

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ph. © Filipe Ferreira, Carolina Farina, Alessandro Sala, Roberta Segata

TOURING

2024

Teatro Sociale – Gualtieri
Teatro Cantiere Florida, Firenze
Teatro Politeama, Poggibonsi
Teatro Koreja, Lecce

2023

Teatro di Meano – Meano
Teatro Bellini – Napoli
Teatro Sociale – Como
Stagione Agorà – Castello D’Argile
Terre del Vescovado Festival – Seriate
Teatro Comunale Odeon – Lumezzane

2022

Piccolo Teatro Grassi – Milano
Teatro Ca’ Foscari – Venezia
Teatro Fellini – Pontinia
Festival de Liege – Liege

2020

Auditoriumo Fausto Melotti – Rovereto
Kronostagione – Albenga
Teatro Rasi – Ravenna
Teatro Montand – Monsummano Terme (PT)
Teatro Bolognini – Pistoia
Cinema Teatro Excelsior – Reggello (FI)
CuneiForme Festival – Racconigi
Teatro Toselli – Cuneo

2019

CSS – Udine
Scenari Pagani – Pagani (Salerno)
Teatro Area Nord – Napoli
Teatro al Parco – Parma
Chiesetta di San Bartolomeo – Arzignano (Vicenza)
Teatro degli Atti – Rimini
Teatro Sanzio – Urbino
Festival LAIVin ACTION – Teatro Sant’Afra Brescia
Festival delle Colline Torinesi – Torino
Festival Asti Teatro – Asti
ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival – Shanghai
Teatro dei Filodrammatici – Piacenza
Fuori Luogo – La Spezia
Student Centre – Zagreb
54th Maribor Theatre Festival – Maribor
Teatro Laura Betti – Casalecchio di Reno
Conde Duque – Madrid
Città delle Cento Scale Festival – Potenza

2018

Primavera dei Teatri – Castrovillari
BE Festival – Birmingham
Festival della Letteratura – Mantova
Drodesera – Centrale Fies, Dro
Short Theatre – Roma
T*Danse – Aosta
Sardegna Teatro – Cagliari
Teatro Comunale – Massafra
Teatro Astra – Vicenza
Teatro dei Differenti – Barga (Lucca)
Teatro Cantiere Florida – Firenze
Teatro Giotto – Borgo S. Lorenzo (Firenze)
Teatro Contatto – CSS – Udine

2017
Overload_première

[INTERNATIONAL PREMIÈRE]
Teatro Nacional D. Maria II Ciclo Recém-nascidos – Lisbona

[NATIONAL PREMIÈRE]
Teatro delle Passioni/VIE Festival – Modena

2017
Overload_primo studio

The Gulbenkian – Canterbury
Square Chapel – Halifax
New Wolsey Theatre – Ipswich
Slunglow’s HUB – Leeds
GIFT Festival – Gateshead
Warwick Arts Centre – Coventry
Circomedia – Bristol
Harrogate Theatre – Harrogate

2016
Overload_primo studio

Be Festival – Birmingham
Corral de Comedias – Alcalá de Henares
Teatro de la Abadía – Madrid
Teatro Jesus Ibanez de Matauco – Vitoria
Arropaineko Arragua – Lekeitio
Teatro Gayarre – Pamplona

Would you like to know more about this production?

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CONTACTS

Ass. Cult. Sotterraneo
via Lambruschini 52 c/o studio cirri
Cap 50134 Firenze
P. iva 05411450488
Contacts: Daniele Villa
tel +39 3403408470
sotterraneo.direzione@gmail.com

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