UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Auerbach Lecture | 11.07.2022 | 18 Uhr

Indu Jain (Feminist Theatre, New Delhi): Wirklich/Möglich // Real/Possible. What’s in a Dream? The Stage as a Space for Possibilities

This joint project proposes to explore the stage as an ephemeral yet poignant space with potential whereby this potentiality is heightened by the staging of dreams as well as equivalent states of consciousness. One of the key areas of exploration would be the social dimension of dreams and how theatre, arts and media negotiate their presence while carefully traversing the fine line between dreams and reality. Through a joint exploration which would entail reading, analyzing performances, critical study of scripts/plays as well as performance notes and discussing media and theatrical techniques, the dialogue will enable a greater understanding of the diverse aesthetics employed by various representative artists and facilitate a micro-level study of the subject matter. Especially the intercultural perspective of the project will aim for a programmatic de-essentializing and historicizing of dreams, reading them as a specific form to create a sphere of potentiality that is not instrumental and subjected to an explicit will but allows for inner development and dynamics. The case studies specific to the cultural and regional environment of the proposing fellows will enable an engagement with the study of various cultural markers, use of symbolism, experimentation in theatrical presentations, and many more inter cultural paradigms to be focused upon.