Thinking Things

Georges Aperghis

A robotic totem. Two voices. A dancer. A percussionist. They participate in a ritual of burial and resurrection; they form part of a new work. It’s “Thinking Things” by Georges Aperghis, a remarkable composer who keeps reinventing musical theater in his own unique way.

Photo:Yannis Soulis

Wrapping up in the OCC the presentation of his informal trilogy that started with “Machinations” (2000) and continued with “Luna Park” (2011), and the ever evolving “Tourbillons” we saw last year, in “Thinking Things” (2018), Georges Aperghis creates an artificial, plastic universe of sounds while exploring the interaction between humans and machines.

One of the last remaining great "Greeks of Paris" (Castoriadis, Axelos, Xenakis, Petropoulos, Takis), Aperghis arranges a huge robotic puzzle on stage: a robot with disconnected, scattered parts. But this robot is not the replica of a human. In Aperghis’ stage world, humans have robotic aspects and robots possess human features.

A production of IRCAM-Centre Pompidou (Paris), co-produced with Onassis Stegi.

In “Thinking Things”, Aperghis rejoins his long-standing partners and performers of his work: Donatienne Michel-Dansac, his fellow traveler of nearly thirty years, whose voice ranges from the baroque to contemporary music. Lionel Peintre, another voice of unlimited possibilities. Johanne Saunier, a dancer who has worked with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Michèle Anne De Mey, but also a ground-breaking choreographer. And Richard Dubelski, a percussionist who performs on stage crowned by six piezo microphones that amplify the sounds produced by his body. Most of them are familiar to OCC audiences from previous Aperghis’ works: “Machinations”, “Luna Park” and “Tourbillons”.

Credits

Director and Composition: Georges Aperghis
Assistant Director: Émilie Morin
IRCAM Computer Music Design: Olivier Pasquet
With: Richard Dubelski, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, Lionel Peintre, Johanne Saunier

Sound Engineer: Sylvain Cadars (IRCAM)
Stage Manager: Cyril Claverie (IRCAM)
Lighting Design: Hervé Frichet
Videos & Robot Programming: Jérôme Tuncer, Yann Philippe

Production: IRCAM-Centre Pompidou
Coproduction: Les Spectacles vivants-Centre Pompidou, Südwestrundfunk, Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival
With the collaboration of metalu.net, chantier numérique de Métalu A Chahuter
The robot impressions were produced as a part of the In Moov program created and developed by Gaël Langevin
With the support of the Sacem

Georges Aperghis has collaborated with influential figures of contemporary theater like the “Theater of the Absurd” playwright Artur Adamov, the legendary Comédie-Française director Antoine Vitez and the renowned set designer Yannis Kokkos.

“I perceive the fusion of word and music in Aperghis’ works as a reflection of the primordial human need for communication”. – Grant Chu Covell

“Georges Aperghis is one of the major composers of contemporary musical theatre”. – Jean-François Trubert & Grégory Beller

“A characteristic of the whole of Aperghis’ vocal and theatrical work is language processing that is liminal and beyond semantic frame”. – Penelope Messidi