Cennarium Backstage Issue 3 - Promenade Festival Special Edition | Page 8

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yet again, vacuum in tow, for some re-re-re- visual arts (she’s well-versed in 3-D printing),
inflation. Simmons knew she wanted to work with a
specific kind of material. “I was interested in
After the fourth and final pop of the
evening, it was clear to the audience that this the form of a thing that would refute itself
was unlike any performance they had ever in the end,” she told me. “I knew the set and
witnessed before. props needed to be made of objects that could
build a logical structure—that fell apart in the
What is Staging Wittgenstein? It is
Simmons’ theatrical engagement with a end.”
frustrating paradox: the attempt by an Austrian
philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, in a book- challenging than Tractatus Logico-
length work from 1921 called Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus from which to create theater?
Philosophicus, to express the inexpressibility of One day, while watching the Russian equivalent
language through—yes—language. of America’s Got Talent, Simmons spotted latex
The piece began at New York University, balloons capable of embedding a human body.
where Simmons applied for a dean’s grant She intuited that the balloons could physically
by standing before a panel and verbally represent the nature of Wittgenstein’s text.
pitching the idea to find a way, through Soon, Simmons—along with Nikita Lebedev,
live performance, to physicalize this a playwriting and dramaturgy student at
inexpressibility. With her background in NYU, here as a performer—had to learn to
cennarium.com/promenade/
Still, what material could be more
be balloon-people. They were like toddlers all text in the 45-minute piece—including a
learning to use their bodies. Rehearsals were heartbreaking monologue by Hägg, after
sometimes given over entirely to discovering which she deflates herself into a kind of
the symbiotic relationship between balloon latex mummy—comes directly from the
and person. In this anti-pop culture, rules were instruction booklets provided by the balloon
established: cut your nails, don’t plant your manufacturer.
feet, use some lube.
crafting such an unusual show reached
The first iteration of Saving Wittgenstein
Along the way, the frustration of
appeared in a space in the English department a breaking point for Simmons. “I was so
of NYU. Just last month, Staging Wittgenstein anxious and so frustrated by the balloons
received a 24-performance run at the world- and their ability to pop at any moment,” she
renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe. recalled. “They hindered me from imagining
almost any sort of play structure. It was
Many changes, evolutions and popping
have occurred during the months in between. almost impossible to make creative decisions
For example, Hägg now occupies the knowing that, at any moment, the effect
balloon space pioneered by Simmons, who that I intended could be ruined.” She knew
directs. Verbal text has been added. In fact, Staging Wittgenstein needed to undergo a
#streamthearts #streamarts
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