When Buddha Slipped on the Grain of Rice
Category: Performance | Role: Director | Venue: Perla-Mode Zürich, Theaterhaus Hildesheim, FAUST Hanover
“When Buddha Slipped on the Grain of Rice” is the more or less desperate search by a female and a male performer for the Buddha within themselves. According to Tibetan Buddhism, every human being possesses Buddha-nature; the only difference is in which life it manifests itself.
In the performance, an attempt is made to bring this Buddha-nature to the fore through theater and its means.
Drawing on material about the figure of Siddhartha Gautama, the two performers attempt to reenact the Buddha or, rather, to create their own version of this character on stage.
The entire endeavor ultimately ends in chaos, and finally, the performers are displayed as Buddha figures that are, in a sense, empty but nonetheless alive. At the end of the performance, the narrative part of the piece seamlessly transitions into an installation, where the audience can view the stage Buddhas as living artifacts and interact with them.
Find below a translated newspaper article about the performance:
Performance: Renate Regel, Bikash Chatterjee
Camera: Lilith Vincon
Assistance: Marie-Luise Kupka
