"du &nichts" appear in black, a conceptual theatre from Innsbruck. Three gentlemen in black nylonjackets, white roses in the buttonholes and hydrogene-blond wigs on the head. They paint an okcidental mantra on the street with which they conjure up thinking, hoping etc. They are Dadaists of time, change the speed of their non-actions at will from slow-motion to quick-motion. "One, two, three, you are dead:" counted and dying-slow stepped down. "All you need is love": three apples. From our intellectual stones around our lives no stone remains on the other. The trio plays their performance. "The silence of void" in a concentration, an intensity of strangeness so that a shiver runs down your spine. They appear like surrealistic angels of death, secret agents of concentration on the essence, who perform their play in the middle of the asphalt. Who or what are they going to bury in their little plastic coffin? The certainties only?
(Thomas Hahn, Paris)
In the short intervals between the showblocks one group has again and again effectively opened our eyes to the fact how small and simple and at the same time funny and impressive intimate theatre can be: One time the three men in their cardboard boxes stand without movement on the great field beside the Schadausaal, another time they walk simultaneously and in slow motion through the people in the foyer. The Austrian performance group du&nichts (you and nothing) has with their performances helped the Exchange to a successful red thread.
(Feuilleton, Der Bund / CH)
52.000 people experience magical moments at the streettheatre. The 7th International Street- Theatre-festival in Holzminden once more proves its absolute singularity.
Besides the winner the jury found words of praise for "du&nichts" ("you and nothing") from Austria. The group gave "a true statement about human conditions". Their tranquility and absolute concentration produced a strong contrast to the normally overboarding energy of the street-theatre.
La recherche théàtrale de Parate Labor
Fondée il y a une Quinaine d'années par le metteur en scène zurichois Walter Pfaff. Toutes les nationalités ont défilé à Dompierre. Indiens, Mexicains, Allemands, Autrichiens ... "Parate-Labor" propose une pratique théâtrale basée sur le mouvement et le travail du corps. Inspirée par Jerzy Grotowski, un metteur en scène polonais, cette pratique fait appel à la concentration, à la précision et à la concision des gestes. Il s'agit d'une pratique mais aussi d'un art de vivre, d'une ascèse. Pendant plusieurs mois, les comédiens vivent en communauté totale, travaillant dix heures par jours, cinq jour et demi sur sept. du & nichts, troi artistes autrichiens ont d'ailleurs préparé un spectacle de mimes pour l'ouverture de la coupe d'Europe de football à Lisbonne. Ils ont déjà travaillé avec Walter Pfaff sur un spectacle de Kafka.
(Monique PIERLOT)