Ikigai is a reality game of fiction. It explores the issues of one’s significance and value. It is a game that tests and examines the boundaries between “fake” and “real”, correct and controversial, the seen and the unseen, as well as between material reality and “dark web”. It is a performance that intertwines various formats, such as “reality show”, “game show”, quizzes and video games in order to decode what lies behind the collected data of one’s activity that define their individual and social value.
We live in a time in which our online activity is more valuable than our real actions, the surveillance of our personal, banking, health, work, tax and social data dictates and restrains every step of our lives. We are constantly assessed and evaluated in terms of our physical appearance, our fashion sense, our music and reading preferences, our social life, our money spending patterns. Life has been converted into clusters of data on psychological profiles, personalized instructions on one’s point-of-view and supervision. If one perceives life merely as a game of challenges and tasks for collecting loyalty points in the system of social rules, what is ultimately the most valuable thing in this world to cash in our loyalty points?
Ikigai explores the limits of individual free will in a world where only Google and artificial intelligence can answer the questions of how much influence we have on our life decisions and how much human life is worth. What happens if we leave the fate of two individuals to the game of survival and the popular vote – cast by the audience? How is one to find and invent new strategies to overcome obstacles for survival? Ikigai is a game that recalculates the value of the individual and their social responsibilities when people are being transformed merely into tools for mutual evaluation and pleasure. It is a game of challenges and strategies leading to a happy life ever after.
What happens when we leave the fate of two individuals to a game of survival and the popular vote – cast by the audience?
Original idea and playscript Varja Hrvatin
Authors Varja Hrvatin, Maša Grošelj, Aljoša Koltak, Anja Romih, Lea Culetto, Jurij Smrke, Jure Anžiček, Sebastijan Geč, Živa Čebulj
Set and video designer Anja Romih
Costume designer Lea Culetto
Composer and technical designer Jure Anžiček
Application developer Jurij Smrke
Choreographer Sebastijan Geč
Language consultant Živa Čebulj
Cast
Maša Grošelj
Aljoša Koltak
Opening night 6 April 2023
Members of the audience can choose either to simply watch the performance or to participate actively and anonymously – if so, a smartphone with data downloading features is required.
