De-Il-Lusion
Director: Dominik Grünbühel, Luke Baio
Cast: Dagmar Dachauer, Nanina Kotlowski, Raúl Maia, Patric Redl

Plot:
De-Il-Lusion is a performance that concerns itself with the creation of stages and sets by creating a set onstage.

A few years back I saw the wonderful shoot me by Grünbühel and Baio and since they liked my reaction back then, they invited me to the premiere of their newest production. Unfortunately this time around I am not that enthusiastic.

De-Il-Lusion starts well. The performers conquer the stage and get to know the materials they’re working with and it’s fun to watch. When they actually start building something – you soon realize that it’s a house – it’s interesting to watch their progress and their interaction with each other and the materials. When the house finally stands and a group picture is taken, it would have been the perfect end for the performance.

Unfortunately we were only halfway through the show. The other half was spent with increasingly monotone and singular usage of the house itself, the materials and cameras. The performers stop interacting with each other. One layers the floor with sheets of paper for 40 minutes. One rolls around the floor with a camera, the images of which are projected everywhere. Nobody interacts with the other performers anymore.

There were interesting bits and pieces. Particularly one of the performers who watches TV for the second half, moving with increasingly erratic movements – I would have loved to see more of this dancing. But it just became really boring in the second half.

Though it probably wouldn’t have been so bad if the music – which from the start wasn’t awesome – hadn’t become more grating and headache-inducing by the second. I caught myself wishing for earplugs several times. And when things sound this annoying, everything else is really hard to stand, too.

Summarizing: They can’t all be winners.