They’re disconnected. From “normal society”, from necessary failure in the everyday struggle with “the world out there”. Withdrawn into themselves, (in)voluntarily imprisoned in their apartments and rooms, which they don’t leave for months, years, sometimes even entire decades. There are hundreds of thousands of them. In Japan, Brazil, Scandinavia, in the Czech Republic, and in other parts of the world. A generation in crisis? An disease of contemporary society? Hikikomori.

Abstract

The members of Farm In The Cave were inspired when meeting young people from the Czech Republic, Tokyo and Scandinavia who live in great isolation in large cities. These people are hypersensitive individuals, incapable of returning to their jobs or school and unable to return to society and “succeed” despite perhaps wanting to. This phenomenon known as hikikomori (in Japanese “pulling inward”) was first discovered in Japan but has been gradually appearing in more and more countries around the world, yet experts are unable to expound it. The term hikikomori refers both to the sociological phenomenon of acute social withdrawal and the people belonging to this societal group. Hikikomori is sometimes called the “illness of modern society”. The composition entitled Disconnected is a unique blend of installation, documentary and physical theatre, which arose from the observation of hikikomori. The composition combines action, video and text with live music, and is part of a project called Night In The City which aims to explore sensitive modern issues. This exploration is the current focus of international theatre studio Farm In The Cave.

 

Performed by: Minh Hieu Nguyen, Hana Varadzinová, Eliška Vavříková, Anna Gromanová, Monika Částková, Helena Ratajová, Petr Uvira

Duration: 55 min

CREATIVE TEAM

RESEARCHViliam Dočolomanský, Šimon Peták, Minh Hieu Nguyen, Eva Hamouzová, Jun Muramatsu, Jun-Wan Kim

CONCEPTLucia Škandíková, Viliam Dočolomanský

DIRECTED BY, CHOREOGRAPHYViliam Dočolomanský

ASSISTANT DIRECTORŠimon Peták

MOVEMENT ASSISTANCEAgnija Šejko, Monika Částková

MUSICViliam Dočolomanský, Jan Burian, Petr Uvira

SCENOGRAPHY AND COSTUME DESIGNLucia Škandíková

VIDEOErik Bartoš

LIGHT DESIGNPavel Kotlík

LIGHTSFrantišek Fabián

SOUND DESIGNEva Hamouzová

DRAMATURGICAL ASSISTANCEKarel František Tománek, Sodja Lotker

PRODUCTIONJan Valter, Dana Račková

TECHNICAL PRODUCTIONZdena Rudolfová

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTSŠimon Peták, Karolina Zajdel, Veronika Dúbravová, Zdena Rudolfová

PRODUCING OF THE STAGEDOX Centrum současného umění

IN COPRODUCTION WITHEvropské hlavní město kultury Plzeň 2015, DOX Centrum současného umění

SPECIAL THANKSJana Pilátová

 

 

We are part of Pilsen European Capital of Culture 2015. 

Disconnected is a part of Caravan Next, a large scale European Social Community Theatre project – www.caravanext.eu

Support:

The City of Prague,  Caravan Next, Norden – Nordic Culture Point, Pilsen Region, Pilsen City Hall, Pilsen European Capital of culture 2015, State Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Bilateral National Fund within the programme areas of the EEA and Norway Grants 2009 – 2014.

 

Premiere (DEPO version) 16th and 17th of December 2015, DEPO, Pilsen
Preview (DOX version) 21st of December 2015, DOX, Prague 
Premiere 23rd, 24th and 25th of January 2016, DOX, Prague

Trailer

   

For Promoters

Farm in the Cave’s standard space requirements for performances are as follows: a space with good acoustics which can also be completely silent during performances; typically we use a black box or site-specific space with minimal dimensions of 10 x 10 meters, with a height of 6 meters; at least 6 months before the performance our technical team of 2-4 persons must make a preparatory visit.

The maximum number of audience members at individual performances varies, but is usually no more than 450. 
The number of performers per performance varies between 5 and 13, and the technical – production staff is between 4 and 6 people.
The minimum number of performances presented in one place is 2. The company can play 2 performances per day are available on request – the latest start time is 21:00 local time.
 
The length of preparation and adaptation depends on the specific performance and local conditions, with a minimum of 1-2 days necessary prior to the day of the first production.
Financial requirements are available upon request at info@farminthecave.com.
 

The organizers pay for: fees; costs of shipping scenography; personnel transport; local transportation to the performance location; housing; per-diems; costs connected with preparatory technical visit. The organizer agrees to pay for costs of equipment rental if the space to be used does not have the equipment necessary.