Screenagers

Our hyper connectivity with internet, our hours spent on screens, can they be used as material to make captivating and touching works of art?

“Screenagers” is the attempt to put on stage this unconfirmed writing of the permanent connection. Based on the life and work of the musician, videogame designer, programmer and handyman Pierre-Erick Lefebvre, the show will develop as a sort of learning novel which will be closely linked to the progress of the digital revolution.

The medium with which we express ourselves also largely defines our thinking. For the so-called 'screenagers', adolescents who perfectly control computers and other electronic devices, modern media have become extensions of the body. From videogames,online shopping to live chatplatforms and geo catchgames such as Pokémon Go : Screenagers zooms in on our behaviour with digital interfaces.

In an exciting interactive story for young ánd old a group of friends get together to test a new board game. To activate it they have to call a mysterious telephone number which announces a message on their smartphone. And that's when the audience enters the game... Screenagers gives the spectator the opportunity to participate in this story : via a web interface you set the action of the players in motion, change the light, propose a text and rearrange the stage. Thus Screenagers reflects the surreal character of the web in an exciting mix of logic and nonsense, concert, stand-up comedy and performance. In short : a performance like an addictive time line in which you yourself claim a piece of the director's seat.

The work of the Italian Giuseppe Chico and the Kroatian Barbara Matijevic is strongly inspired by our online interactions. Since 2008 the YouTube lovers and choreographers have made seven performances which toured from Singapore to Brazil, from Germany to Greece. Screenagers and Our daily performance are their twofold first acquaintance with NEXT.