Point Blank | EDIT KALDOR

2007

Point Blank is a visual theatre performance in which the narrative is constructed by using paparazzi-style photographs of everyday situations. The 19-year-old Nada has been secretly observing people for years, taking ‘spy-photos’ of them, capturing their private moments. The core of her interest is to trace the various life-strategies that people follow. She wants to map out the options for herself. Driven by this curiosity, she becomes witness to a wide range of – at times extreme – human behaviour. The performance is an occasion for Nada to structure her ‘archive of possibilities’. Together with the audience she contemplates the images, and looks for the implications and patterns that emerge. She aims to get a comprehensive overview and to reach a conclusion: the vision of a life worth pursuing.

Point Blank premiered in 2007 at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, and has since been performed at various theatres and festivals in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Serbia, the United States, Ireland, Poland and China. It is available in both English and French-language versions.

Credits

on stage: Nada Gambier and Edit Kaldor
photographs: Frank Theys
concept, text and direction: Edit Kaldor made in collaboration with Nada Gambier, Frank Theys, Nicola Unger, Io Tillett Wright, Monika Rinck and Ugo Dehaes
software: Marc Boon
technique: Maurice Camps

the photos were made with the participation of Bernice Aalders, Laura Barnett, Olivier Beghin, Shannon Bool, Régine Boussuge, Thierry Cadeddu, Carola and children, Thomas De Chambourg, Muriel Chauvet , Brian Cheng , Ross Crain, Nathalie Dao, Christine Debreyne, Sylvie Decroix, Heide Deigert , Katrin Dod, Tim Drucker, Cora Fisher, Esra J. Gaffin, Dani Gal, Emmanuelle Gorsse, Jonathan Green, Mark Greenfield, Mrs. Greinert, Christa Hagemann, Saskia Hegt, Andy Horwitz, Carlos Ibarra, Mahdia Idir, Sam Johnson, Judith Kästner, Nathalie Lagouge, Juliet Level, Mart van Lier, François Maurin, Sophie Morin, Nina, Isabelle Outin, Emile Palmantier, Jay Paulino, Frank Piquard, Sandrine Place, Stéphane Desch and children, Haiko Pfost, Martin Pot, François Rancien, Rob Reicher, Alida Reicher, Bella Reid, George Rippon, Olivier Roche, Ellen van Rossum, Beti Rozen, Larke Schuldberg, Petra Schulz and company, Deven E. Sisler, Melinda Stewart, Sabine Tarillon, Françoise Thinat, Zach Trudeau, Annette Valk, Mrs. Valk, Martijn van de Ven, Ves, Alex Waitz, Jessie Weiss, Dieter Wenk, Jérôme Weroniak, Niels Wiggers, Mike Wolter, Dorothy T. Yang and with the kind assistance of Angelina, Clarina Bezzola, John Collins, Maartje van Doodewaard, Esperanto Café, Vallejo Gantner, Carlos Ibarra, Ombline de Kersabiec, The Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center NYC, Wendy Nakashima, Jacky Nicolas, Linda Reid, Tanya Selvaratnam, Ronald van Tour,

produced by Productiehuis Rotterdam (Rotterdamse Schouwburg); Filter, Antwerp; Kata, Amsterdam;
executive producer: wp Zimmer, Antwerp
co-produced by KunstenfestivaldesArts, Brussels; Sophiensaele, Berlin; Parc de la Villette, Paris (Résidences d’Artistes 2007); P.S.122 New York; Votnik, Brussels supported by the Netherlands Fund for Performing Arts, the Flemish government, VSB Fund, Dutch Theatre Institute

From the press:

The purpose of life explored through the lens of a camera. A quest that interrogates our contemporary life: solitude, living together, trust in the other…. One hell of a performance!Le Soir, Belgium

What happens on stage is seemingly simple: someone projects images from a laptop, Nada, the young girl talks, we watch photographs. But in thought and philosophy it is a very rich evening, as well as in terms of the theatre-aesthetical questions that are addressed here. The performance deals with issues like time, humanness, and reality. We watch the pictures, we listen to Nada’s comments, and in the meanwhile, inside each spectator’s head his own film is playing, the images of his own life are being projected. And he is contemplating the question: Indeed, how should one live? Is it good the way it is?Revizor, Hungary

On a nearly blank stage, in the semi-dark, and in the least confrontational way possible, Nada Gambier self-effacingly and entirely wrecks one’s head. …***** Irish Theatre Magazine

Point Blank is an investigation into serendipity and wanting to control one’s potential. A simple, understated, yet highly charged theatrical presentation.New York Press, U.S.