‘Manageable Matter’ stages a procession of the Paradox Crew as the ‘Artichoke Brigade’, led by the Punitive Major Drum, whose relentless marching drives the troupe headlong into an exuberant apocalypse. Each of the nine performers carries a mace—as weapon and comfort object—through which they explore the slippage between responsiveness and reaction, between Freud’s Todestrieb (death-drive) and Audre Lorde’s vision of the Erotic as Power. The actors proceed to chalk their individual trajectories on the floor, based on the score Shifting Tethers or How to Conduct a Flustered Symphony. This drawing serves as a guide for the performers’ movements, influencing their gestures, and marking the axes of the sculptures in space.

The scene unfolds in a loop: we encounter the planting of seeds, their growth, and the negotiation between players until the Smash–Glass Battle is unleashed – this serious play is both a brutal and cathartic confrontation. A Conspiracy of Crows – a wailing choir, laments this incessant loop – while, the Demon Crew, represented by three sculptural figures, occasionally offer their opinions on the matter. After the actors exhaust themselves, the cleanup crew commences to restore the room, and they begin again. The performance ends as it began – the Artichoke Brigade opens and closes the work, to demarcate a Sisyphean loop that alters incrementally with each repetition, searching for humility and grace in this seemingly unresolvable and incessant loop.

Credits

• THE PARADOX CREW:
• I Caustic Compersion: TBA
• II Gravity Grace: Matilda Cobanli
• III Punitive Major Drum: Katrina E. Bastian
• IV Uncrowned: Yuri Fortini
• V Drowning Beautiful: Noemi Calzavara
• VI Eternal Drift: Daniel Jeremian Persson
• VII Essential Goo: Yi-Chi Lee
• VIII Assume Generous: Juan Corres Benito
• IX Optimistic Incrementalist: Maya Selezneva
• A Conspiracy of Crows: Otucha Choir
• Dramaturg: Maire Glassl
• Composer: Jacob Stoy
• Cellist: Zeynep Ayşe Hatipoğl
• Sound Recording & Design: Adam Asnan
• DOP : Kleber Nascimento
• AC: Peter Müschen
• Costume Design: Don Aretino
• Makeup, SFX and Smash-Glass Assistance: Caterina Veronesi