(Ob)Sessions

If I tell you how old I am, what do I mean? Who is this “I”: body, mind, soul, or all three in one? Unlike my brain, my mind is connected with the mind of others, present and past, across thousands of years. Demons sit on my shoulder and whisper in my ear: My mind is beyond time, and Earth 2021 is not my home. What kind of future do we have, if we do everything in our might to stay young for longer and longer? By refusing to age, are we actually making war on youth? What expectations are placed on female desire? Which norms are bodies subject to in the patriarchy? And how can we free ourselves of them? 

The Israeli choreographer and director Saar Magal generates images, stories, movements, sounds and sensations in her performance. Her aim is to allow the audience to feel their way, both intellectually and emotionally, toward the fringes of what we regard as the measure of the mortal human being. By examining various rituals, myths and religions, new forms of perception, nonconformism and surrender are created. The myth of the Garden of Eden – featuring the trees of life, the gaining of knowledge, and the forbidden fruit – encourages us to confront our ideas of sin, sexuality, revenge, desire and power, our obsession with youth and our fear of aging.