Standstill in the Suez Canal: How the Vienna consumer terror is blocked!

Standstill in the Suez Canal: How the Vienna consumer terror is blocked!

On Friday, December 13, 2024, the Volkstheater in Vienna celebrates the premiere of the play "Ever Given", which illuminates the stories of people whose life is characterized by standstill. Inspired by the famous container freighter "Ever Given", which blocked the Suez Canal in spring 2021 and thus paralyzed worldwide trade, director Helgard Haug examines the effects of these interruptions on individual life and social consumption behavior. She explains that pandemic, as well as the blockade of the Suez Canal, generated lack of lack and questioned our hectic consumer behavior. People feel when trade routes stand up, which makes them dependent on constant consumption, especially in the hectic pre -Christmas period in Vienna, in which "consumer terror" prevails, as Haug describes it, but not from greed, but as an engine of the global economy.

The director is part of the renowned directorial collective Rimini Protocol, which is known for his innovative approach to theater. Rimini Protocol works in the border area of ​​reality and fiction and develops its productions based on intensive research in cooperation with amateur actors who tell their own life stories. This is done with the aim of reflecting on complex social issues and challenging the audience. Haug, Kaegi and Wetzel, who often work in different combinations, show us with their pieces how the boundaries between the stage and reality blur and the audience gives a deeper insight into human destinies. This concept was also behind earlier projects that dealt with topics such as death or layoffs at the airline Sabena, whereby the audience was confronted directly with the stories of these people, as rimini protocol

The examination of the personal stories of the protagonists, be it due to the figure skating or the challenges of life with chronic pain, is treated intensively in the new work. Haug leads the viewers to think about the blockages in their own lives and to reflect on how standstill can lead to a feeling of frenzy if one is confronted with the perceived empty. The premiere will therefore not only a cultural event, but also an invitation to personal and social reflection on the state of our world and the importance of consumption behavior.