An original court of law you would never dare to dream of
The Swiss Christophe Meierhans transforms the theatre into a symbolical court of law. In his Special Tribunal for Semi-Human Persons, money is in the dock. Can we declare it guilty of the misery in the world ? How do you judge a system you are part of yourself ? Ten witnesses, among them a psychologist, an ex-banker and a homeless person come forward in the performance. But Trials of Money is also a collective exercise : during the trial you yourself can choose whether you want to charge or defend money. If money appears indeed to be guilty, what would be a just sentence ?
Meierhans in De Wereld Morgen : “Money was invented by people but then became independent. As if we had set up a system which we have lost the key of. Indeed, as soon as the human race died out, money would disappear. So, money is completely dependent on man to exist but at the same time it exists outside of that and it follows its own logic. Comparable to Facebook and AI.”
Christophe Meierhans is a musician, theatre maker, performer and maker of films and exhibitions. The constant in the divergent oeuvre of the Swiss is a strong interest in the collective and the consequences of joining that collective. “I rather create situations than performances', says Meierhans about this. “I use theatre and dramaturgy to stage situations that are not necessarily fictitious but do belong to a different reality. Only then does it become interesting for me : why would a discussion about a political theme in a performance be less real than having the same conversation outside the theatre ?
Meierhans' method of working has yielded high-profile productions such as Some use for your broken clay pots (2014) in which he presented a new social form, and A hundred wars to world piece (2015) – a cooking experiment the outcome of which was in the hands of the audience. From 2017 tot 2021 Christophe Meierhans is artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater.
“An ambiguous trial” – Lieze Roels, Etcetera
Christophe Meierhans
Trials of Money
CONCEPT & REALISATION Christophe Meierhans / PERFORMANCE & CREATION Shila Anaraki, Jochen Dehn, Luca Mattei, Christophe Meierhans, Adva Zakai / DRAMATURGY Bart Capelle / SCENOGRAPHY Decoratelier Jozef Wouters / PAINTER Giammarco Falcone / LIGHT Luc Schaltin / COSTUMES Sofie Durnez, Valérie Le Roy / LIGHT TABLE MICROPHONE CONCEPT Alexis Pawlak, Gaia Carabillo / PRODUCTION Hiros, Elisa Demarré / CO-PRODUCTION AUAwirleben, BIT Teatergarasjen, kunstencentrum BUDA, FAR°, Kaaitheater, Vooruit, Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil, Teatro Maria Matos en ZonaK / WITH THE SUPPORT OF Vlaamse Gemeenschap en Pro Helvetia.
