SAME SAME

“It doesn’t happen too often that you leave the theatre slightly confused, but with a relaxed smile on the lips and feeling refreshed. Watching someone act foolishly [in SAME SAME] is therapeutic; it helps you not to take yourself so seriously and let some absurdity into your life. Boredom can kill even the most meaningful work.”

— Lucie Kocourková, Taneční aktuality (translated from Czech)

In a world where reason is a nice façade, the bursting in of non-sense makes us face our relationship with normalcy and allows us to be receptive to unexplored paths. Somewhere between burnout and brownout, two women, exposed to each other like a palindrome in a distorting mirror, lose their direction and rekindle their inner wild animals.

Belgian choreographer Karine Ponties, leading Czech creative dancer Tereza Ondrová and theatre director Petra Tejnorová explore the boundaries of subtle humour, irony and absurdity in this award-winning dance-theatre performance. Inspired by silent film actor Buster Keaton whose trademark physical comedy was heightened by his deadpan expressions, SAME SAME moves us with their depth and sincerity despite the hilarity of the form.

Post-show dialogue on 20 January 2024, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com before 15 December 2023.

Artist Statement

Somewhere between bored out, burnout, and brownout, SAME SAME explores the contemporary issues we face at work and in our lives. The piece highlights the absurdity of repetitive gestures in both public and private spheres while playing with mirror effects to emphasise the complexity of human beings and relationships. In this piece, we also explore resemblance and dissemblance, domination and submission, superficiality and depth. In a world dominated by reason, the interruption of absurdity compels us to confront our relation with normalcy.