Jenseits

The Animal Theatre Manifesto

By Wayn Traub

1. The animal is the beginning and end of animal theatre. It is both the source and the aim.

2. Animal theatre is born of a deep desire, the cry of the animal in each of us (animus). The creator transforms this desire into action (animer) and if his performance is successful, the animal in man is aroused (animal). Theatre must rouse people from their winter sleep. These three phases can be of help here.

3.

Animal theatre speaks – through the codes and images and of its age – the language of all ages. The creator uses a language he masters and the audience knows, which makes it possible to transmit a universal message.

4. Animal theatre does not work with texts, but images. It is not based on an existing concept for the display of a personal interpretation or opinion. It is based on a personal view of life which gives form to the theatre.

5. Animal theatre must alienate. The actors transform into divine, animal beings so that the audience too will undergo the same experience. This theatre allows those present to travel to another world where they live in the proximity of and in unity with an unattainable truth. The theatre is metamorphosis, ...