Koncept in režija: Bojan Jablanovec
Performerji:Marie-Louise Stentebjerg (Danska), Emma-Cecilia Ajanki (Danska), Anita Wach (Poljska), Magdalena Tuka (Poljska), Katalin Kovacs (Madžarska), Grega Zorc (Slovenija)

Tehnični direktor: Janko Oven
Izvršna producentka: Adriana Světlíková
Produkcija: Nova sit (Češka), C.A. in DNA, katerega partnerji so Gledališče Glej (so-partner Via Negativa),L1, Madžarska; Entre Scénen, Danska; A4, Slovaška; Katedra kultury, Poljska

Premiera: 6. maj, Budimpešta
Slovenska premiera: 8. in 9. maj, Stara elektrarna

Osnovno vprašanje, ki nas v tem projektu zanima, je, ali in na kakšen način je ljubezen kot »umetniška tema« danes za gledalca sodobne scenske umetnosti sploh še zanimiva?

Casablanca Therapy is a part of the DNA project - DNA new creation and is a result of the process that started with the workshop led by Bojan Jablanovec, Via Negativa artistic director, in Prague on January 2010. Marie-Louise Stentebjerg and Emma-Cecilia Ajanki from Denmark, Anita Wach and Magdalena Tuka from Poland, Katalin Kovacs from Hungary and Grega Zorc, a Via Negativa performer from Slovenia were selected for next few month to proceed with searching for an answer to the question whether and in which way love as an “artistic subject” could be still relevant today.

Love is a very complex mix of emotions, but we were not interested in any kind of love psychology. Instead we asked ourselves what kind of power love becomes today. What are we doing for, because and in the name of love? The glorification of love as a “positive life force” has transformed it into obligatory political and media kitsch, an exclusively pop-cultural domain, bound by marketing and television. Its fabricated image and an ideologically ultimative “positive power” now functions as a generator of frustration and trauma, a function that the market economy abuses to pitch endless substitutes (food, fashion, automobiles, communication, entertainment…) witch which an individual is to patch up this glorified image of love, an image one is unable to manifest in reality.

Does it mean that love exist only as trivial and cheap emotion today? We still love. We love more than ever. Our lives are stuffed with love, all kinds of loves. We love a lot of different things; we even cannot decide what we love more: people or things. Love is a powerful force but only if one feels need for it. Politicians know it. Our need for love and to be loved is one of the highest imperativ of modern postindustrial sociaty. This need is generated so intensively that becomes destructive. Contemporary love ideology destroys word faster than ever. In the “name of love” some of the most horrible crimes and massacres happen. We are desperately trying to subdue this lethal drive of love with glorification of its life force.

Love could be one of the most dangerous emotional states. But love isn’t only emotion it’s also a complex process of racionalisation. It seems that in an ideal relationship (not only a love relationship) it is the creation of boundaries that is key. These boundaries are the essence of identity; they are like skin and flesh, surrounding the skeleton of the subject. Only clear boundaries enable transference, harmonics, a symbiosis. The crux of a relationship is not to negate, nullify, overstep, overcome these boundaries; but rather to focus them, enable the boundaries themselves to rule the relationship. This is why any relationship, be it viewer - performer, man - woman, father - son, etc., is in its core a demarcation and not some sort of romantic unity. Any relationship (be it business, love, sexual…) can only be formed and sustained by maintaining one’s own boundaries.

Today we live in the extreme paradox: the world is open more than ever and we defend our boudaries strongest than ever. Boundaries are namly the most important source of pleasure - transgression of them generates the greatest pleasure of all. And regarding pleasure, love is particularly merciless.