City Now
City Now is an ambitious attempt to portray a metropolis - a city kept in motion with the help of actors, souvenirs, bread rolls, and a spectaculair set constructed out of refrigerator boxes. We zoom through streets, squares, walls and rooms to reach deep into the inhabitants' innermost thoughts.
City Now is our 'proto-performance'. This was the first time we worked with scale models onstage and developed our theatrical language.
From the jury report of the Incentive Prize for Puppetry awarded to Hotel Modern in 1999: "And so we sit, glued to our seats and won over by the evident pleasure of those working onstage and also by the continually surprising visual language, which is understandable for a wide range of audiences."
"There is no compelling narrative this time from Hotel Modern, no attempt to box up the chaotic nature of the day and a night in the city. How then do they manage to capture it so successfully and attractively? They do so by manoeuvring themselves in such a skilful, inventive and deceptively casual way from moment to moment." (NRC Handelsblad)
Credits
Makers and cast Herman Helle, Pauline Kalker, Arlène Hoornweg, Ruud van der Pluijm Stage assistant Heleen Wiemer Non-performing makers Carolien Adriaansche, Harriët van Reek, Mirijam Neve Sound design and live performance Ruud van der Pluijm Technicians Joost ten Hage, André Goos Poster and flyer design Ralph Prins, Sibe Kokke/notdef Subsidy Performing Arts Fund NL, City of Rotterdam
