Marathon Lexicon

The English collective Forced Entertainment appeared in 2004 with Bloody Mess, a hilarious ‘revue’ which uncompromisingly describes the horror, beauty and complexity of our world. 

Forced Entertainment will start the 05-06 Kaaitheater season with a live event: an eight-hour lecture performance entitled Marathon Lexicon. For this performance, Tim Etchells, who is the artistic director of Forced Entertainment, and the writer and curator Adrian Heathfield, drew on a great many writers, theatre-makers (including Willy Thomas), thinkers and artists.

Marathon Lexicon is an eight-hour lecture performance in the form of an A to Z, starting with Accidents and Anti-Climaxes through Breath and Blood to the consideration of Charisma, Crying, Ghosts, Laughter, Loss, Silence, Task, Voyeurism and Waiting before arriving at Zero.

Comprising original texts, videos, images and other contributions invited from a wide range of contemporary writers, thinkers and artists connected to performance, Marathon Lexicon is a live event somewhere between an endurance panel presentation and a lecture running out of control.

Marathon Lexicon is about performance and ideas, about struggle and about presence. Mixing anecdote, theory and a fair amount of laughter, the project aims to create a rough and uneven alphabet of contemporary performance - a collage with contributions from many of its most respected thinkers and makers. For the eight hours of the performance, four members of Forced Entertainment sit at tables on the stage and read through the texts in alphabetical sequence creating a durational essay-cum-lecture, which is marked by good humour, intellectual curiosity and sheer bloody-mindedness.

While Forced Entertainment is performing in the main hall, a festive open day will be held in the Kaaitheater forum. Artists, programme makers and commentators will give audiences a foretaste of what the coming season will bring. There will be previews, interviews, acts, tasty snacks and a party to bring it to a close. Come and see! Admission free! More information...