Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm

Theatre and the Crisis of Democracy

Western-style democracy is in crisis: migration, global warming and the economic consolidation of power go hand in hand with a devaluation of former stakeholders and institutions, such as the nation and its parliament. In many places, the answer is a return to forms and structures of authoritarian rule. Against this background, the lecture series “Frankfurter Positionen 2021” invites artists and academics from disciplines dealing with theatre and performance to reflect on the relationship between theatre and democracy. How do new forms of theatre, choreography and forms of performance that transcend genres and styles react to this crisis? How does this crisis affect their formats, modes of organisation and content?

Pat To Yan was born in Hong Kong in 1975. In his works, e.g. “A Concise History of Future China”, he explores what “being human” could mean in our future. In the second part of his series “A Posthuman History” he deals with cyborgs and the discontinued human model, which will be premiered in 2021 at the Frankfurter Positionen.