SAFE

SAFE premiered in the Kaaistudios in 2018, long before the corona-crisis. Today, Julie Pfleiderer’s performance feels strangely consistent with our lives. The current pandemic is causing waves of bacillophobia and fear of infection in our society. In Todd Haynes’ film Safe (1995), a woman suffers from increasingly intense allergic reactions that ultimately make her life almost unlivable. It is unclear whether she is a victim or an attention-seeking manipulator.

As both a concert and a performance, and inspired by the film, SAFE sketches an image of hypersensitivity. The contemporary Western world wants to find explanations for everything, and so does the human mind. We tell ourselves stories in order to live, says writer Joan Didion. SAFE is an immersive journey into the human mind, constructed as a game between environmental influences and our own fragmented thoughts. Join this hybrid performance that will stimulate all your senses. What starts as a concert gradually evolves into a sophisticated live audio play – a cognitive experience captivated through headphones and binaural listening. 

• Julie Pfleiderer makes performances, sound art, and film at the intersection of documentary and fiction. The Brussels-based contemporary music ensemble Ictus has been a regular guest at Kaaitheater for many years.