Jan Fabre Premieres His 24-Hour Marathon Performance in Berlin

Mount Olympus (2015) Photo: Wonge Bergmann via Berliner Festspiele

Who says artists aren’t athletes?

Belgian performance artist Jan Fabre and 27 other performers are preparing to put on a 24-hour non-stop performance without intermissions, titled Mount Olympus, which will premiere on Saturday at the Berliner Festspiele.

The incredible feat of endurance is written, directed, and choreographed by Fabre, who is pushing the boundaries of theater yet again. After 12 grueling months of rehearsals, Mount Olympus seeks to unify all facets of the artist’s previous work.

Described as “an exceptional project” on the website of the Berliner Festspiele, the performers will “dance, act, sweat, love, suffer, and sleep and dream their way through the myths of ancient Greece.”

Mount Olympus (2015) Photo: Wonge Bergmann

Mount Olympus (2015)
Photo: Wonge Bergmann via Berliner Festspiele

It promises to “carry spectators through a performance between waking and sleeping, between dream and reality.”

Previous endurance-based shows, such as his eight-hour piece This is Theater Like It Was to Be Expected and Foreseen (1982), revolutionized the concept of theater and performance art.

Mount Olympus (2015) Photo: Wonge Bergmann

Mount Olympus (2015)
Photo: Wonge Bergmann via Berliner Festspiele

Since 1951, the Berliner Festspiele unites a variety of cross-disciplinary art and cultural events to promote the rich and colorful artistic landscape of Berlin.

Mount Olympus (2015) Photo: Wonge Bergmann

Mount Olympus (2015)
Photo: Wonge Bergmann via Berliner Festspiele

See artnet News’ interview with Jan Fabre here.


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