“Alleen het gesproken woord geldt”
The Haque, 2009
Subtitle:
Visie in één acte
Date:
2009
Location:
The Haque
Commissioned by:
Mobiel projectbureau Optrek
In collaboration with:
Peter Zuiderwijk and Anne Hemker
Abstract:
Theater writing and performance.
“Only the spoken word counts” (“Alleen het gesproken woord geldt”) was developed as a play by artist Onno Dirker, graphic designer Peter Zuiderwijk and sociologist Anne Hemker (OPA) for the Dutch artist initiative Mobiel projectbureau Optrek / Laboratorium voor de Tussentijd. The project focusses on the overwhelming vocabulary that is used by corporations, architects, politicians, social workers, real estate developers and artists to sell or justify urban redevelopment. “Ambitions” and “visions” are translated into speeches, reports, plans, policies and marketing related strategies. The quantity and variety of language doesn’t clarify how all these plans relate to urban reality. All that’s left is an empty vision.
“Alleen het gesproken woord geldt” was build up from existing public speeches, reports and plans. Within the final text all references to location, function, action or party were removed. With the help of an index every potential speaker has the possibility to customize his speech. In this manner the play can be use on all redevelopment locations.
In october 2009 the play was staged for the first time in Transvaal, The Hague. The audience didn’t know that the speaker was an actor. Some people understood what was going on, others noticed something strange, some payed serious attention and a few people actually made notes. Actor: Sandor Barsony, actors bureau: Kapok.