Pavol Liška, Kelly Copper
Pursuit of Happiness
EN-KNAP Productions, Théâtre de la Ville (FR) and steirischerherbst (AT)
Schedule
Première: 1 December2016, Cultural centre Španski borci, Ljubljana
Running time 1 hour 55 minutes. No interval.
Directors and authors Pavol Liška and Kelly Copper
Lighting designer Luka Curk
Costume designer Katarina Škaper
Rehearsal director for EnKnapGroup Nohemi Barriuso
Translator Stojan Pelko
Stage manager Jaka Šimenc
Technical realizators Tehnična ekipa EN-KNAP (Leon Curk, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Aleksander Plut, Špela Škulj)
Executive producer Karmen Keržar
Programme Manager Marjeta Lavrič
Artistic Director Iztok Kovač
Cast
EnKnapGroup; Luke Thomas Dunne, Ida Hellsten, Bence Mezei, Ana Štefanec Knez, Jeffrey Schoenaers, Lada Petrovski Ternovšek
In "Pursuit of Happiness", Nature Theater of Oklahoma’s creators Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper take on the myth and legacy of the American Dream and its aspirational aftermath. The United States’ founding document, the Declaration of Independence, places "the pursuit of happiness" among the "unalienable rights" which it asserts have been given to all human beings by their Creator, and which governments have been tasked to protect. But what is Happiness? Into what
dark corner do we each individually and collectively chase it? To what wild and further frontiers will we pursue it? And to what surprising and unseemly Hollywood blockbuster end?
Working with the six dancers of EnKnapGroup, they have created a unique and personal project, an endlessly morphing folk tale of ultra-violent Western expansion. Featuring a Mexican bar man, an Austrian sales rep, a trip to Baghdad, a modern-day magic potion, and some unsettlingly uplifting cowboy dances, this new creation provides EnKnapGroup’s versatile dancers with an ideal platform to show off their talents.
