To Our Delight

At this moment, it feels as though the world is collapsing beneath us. The order as we know it is falling apart. We are entering a time of uncertainty – of change whose outcome is difficult to imagine as a happy ending. Our present is not a “golden age.” Times past – not even that long ago – seem more stable, safer, happier. But for whom?

As David Graeber and David Wengrow write:
“Egalitarian cities, even regional confederacies, are quite common in history – but egalitarian families or households are not.”

The most painful losses of freedom have taken place on the micro-level – in relationships between genders, between generations, and within household roles. It is precisely where intimacy reigns that the deepest forms of structural violence often hide. Can our descendants still even imagine a utopian world of peace and acceptance?

Every generation destroys the old world and creates a new one. Will this one be better? Democracy is a demanding, exhausting endeavor. Biologically, we are drawn to simple solutions; evolutionarily, we are closer to totalitarianism. It is easier to follow than to lead. Easier to destroy than to build. Every generation has its geniuses, inventors, innovators, creators, rebels, and fighters – those who push the world forward and transform it into a better, safer place to live. And then each generation is erased. Recycled.

We possess great power – and with it, great responsibility. It is up to us how we use it. We must decide what recipe we will follow to build a new world.
A world that will be “to everyone’s taste.”

Concept author and performer: Olja Grubić
Co-authors and performers: Anita Wach, Nina Goropečnik
Photography: Marcandrea Bragalini
PR: Urška Comino (Maska), Tina Malenšek, Paulina Pia Rogač (Gledališče Glej)
Producer: Lučka Neža Peterlin
Technical director: Grega Mohorčič
Production: Maska, Via Negativa
Co-produced by: Glej Theatre
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City Municipality of Ljubljana

Cofinancer on Reciklart Festival Alkatraz Galery (KUD Mreža)