Pursuit of Happiness
Bizarre, painful, hilarious
According to the American Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness is one of the three inalienable rights with which we are all imbued at birth. But what is happiness? In what dark and remote corners do we have to crawl individually and collectively to find it? Could it be the end of a Hollywood blockbuster, however surprising and inappropriate? Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper spent a year working with the EnKnapGroup, an international dance company from Ljubljana, which is performing with text for the first time, rather than only dancing. Together, they have created a bizarre, painful and hilarious horror comedy about voracious expansion in the Wild West and all the violence that ensued as a result.
• The New York-based Nature Theater of Oklahoma acquired global fame with epic performances like No Dice and Life & Times 1-8, and since 2008 they have been a regular fixture on the Kaaitheater programme. The permanent group of actors with whom Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper had been collaborating recently went separate ways. The pair of directors decided to return to their early years, and to collaborate with different groups of ‘non-actors’ for each performance.
'One of the wildest things you'll see at the theatre this year.' – The New York Times
‘Pursuit of Happiness generates an orgy of images, memories and emotions in the heads and the hearts of the audience.’ – De Theaterkrant ★★★★
written and directed by Pavol Liska, Kelly Copper | performed by EnKnapGroup: Ida Hellsten (Sweden), Bence Mezei (Hungary), Lada Petrovski Ternovšek (Croatia), Jeffrey Schoenaers (Belgium), Ana Štefanec Knez (Slovenia), Gilles Noël (Belgium) | production EN-KNAP Productions | co-production Théâtre de la Ville, steirischer herbst | lighting design Luka Curk | costume design Katarina Škaper | costumes by Atelje d.o.o. | rehearsal director for EnKnapGroup Nohemi Barriuso | stage manager Luka Curk | technical realization Španski Borci/EN-KNAP Technical Team | photography and video Andrej Lamut | executive producer Karmen Keržar | public relations and editing Nina Smerkol | Španski Borci Cultural Centre Director, EN-KNAP Productions - Programme Manager and Head of Productions Marjeta Lavrič | EN-KNAP Productions Managing Director, Španski Borci Cultural Centre Artistic Director Iztok Kovač | supported by The U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana The programme of EN-KNAP Productions is financially supported by: City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
