Performance

…in this way, “No Shadow” becomes a way in which the voice achieves a transparency free of shadow, and with that, a direct perception. (Hans Echhaton- Schano, former member of the Julian Beck and Judith Maline Living Theatre, 2006).

With the research project No Shadow, and their continued work on the project Songs as a Source, the Lalish Theater Labor brings into the focus the almost forgotten archeological search for the roots of the voice of man, its individuality and cultural heritage, and its direct impact.

The basic element of this performance is the ancient Kurdish ritual Zaratustra, which includes expressions in different vocal and signing techniques, all performed laryngeally.

Through their projects, the performers, Nigar Hasib and Sharmal Amin, search for an original, intermedial and artistic language, outside the standard linguistic symbolism. Thus they create a new, non-linguistic language, made up of vocals, sounds, tones and other variations of the sounds of various languages, all of which leads to innovative communication during the performance, and to the manifesting of a particular component of the performance: a self-experimentation with sound and song technique.

The songs and sounds of this performance are not present only to deepen the dramatic conflict, link scenes together and give the songs a common thematic basis, nor are the songs performed for special occasions and in specific circumstances. This project by the Lalish Theater Labor thus surpasses all constraints and deconstructs conventional techniques.

The No shadow – Work in progress performance has been presented in its various versions in Austria and different international theatre and music festivals in Japan, Greece, Kosovo, Ukraine and Egypt. 

Directors

The path of our laboratory-like research leads to the discovery of a new fusion of voice, movement and life as a unique whole. The rift between art and life, between aesthetics and conventional values becomes a deciding factor in our projects.

Shamal Amin and Nigar Hasib 

Shamal Amin and Nigar Hasib fled from southern Kurdistan because of the discriminatory politics during the regime of Sadam Hussein, and have lived in Vienna since 1991. Since then, Shamal Amin has completed a master's course, and Nigar Hasib received a doctorate in the philosophy of theatre art and social anthropology from the University of Vienna. Nigar Hasib is the theatre's artistic director, and one of the performers in this production, while Shamal Amin is a performer, the main researcher in the project, and also the director of the Vienna International Research Centre for Voice Anthropology in Theory and Practice. Together, Amin and Hasib founded the Lalish Theater Labor in 1998, and in 2000, they opened their own theatre laboratory in Vienna. They have worked together on many of the projects of the Lalish Theater Labor, and have also participated in exchange programs with numerous international artists and theatre laboratories, such as the Parat Labor in Switzerland and France, the International School of Theatre Anthropology at the Grotowski Institute in Poland, as well as with several other theatre groups from Northern Africa, Europe and Asia. They have also conducted workshops and held lectures at the Universities of Vienna, Shinshu in Matsumoto, Japan, Cairo, and at the College of Theatre in southern Kurdistan.

Theatre

The Lalish Theater Labor is a research centre for theatre and the culture of performance. Its theatric research and experimental projects include: Cultural-physical concept; Investigation of the performative culture and its techniques; Departure to the source of the Celebration and Process: Creative Nature, as well as intensive work on establishing their own work method in the process of creating an experimental ritual performance, part of their project: Songs as a source. The aim of the research centre is to effect a trans-cultural exchange and the creation of a “Present Body in Space and Time”, by exploring the bodily and vocal techniques of the performing cultures of East and West Anatolia, as well as of the performing techniques of the West, all in an effort to discover new methods of performance.

Through its performances and workshops around Europe, as well as in Egypt, Tunisia, Ukraine, Iraq and Japan, the Lalish Theater Labor establishes cooperation and connections with different artistic groups, such as the Odin Teatret, Work Center of Jerzy Grotowski, as the Kazuo Ohno dance troupe.