Yan Duyvendak, Kaedama & Dr. Philippe Cano

Have you ever caught yourself thinking that the Federal Council has gone too far with its imposed lockdown? Do you feel that Swiss borders have been opened too early? Do you believe that wearing masks in public transport should have been made mandatory much earlier? When dealing with the corona virus, everybody has an opinion on everything, knows better and would have done it differently. But what if you were put in a decision-making role? If thousands of people are affected by your decisions, and you were one of the cabinet members having to make decisions about life and death, as well as the economy? In «VIRUS», the latest production by the multiple award-winning Swiss-Dutch director Yan Duyvendak, you have the opportunity to do so: You get to experience first-hand what it means to get a grip on a pandemic.

Yan Duyvendak, a pioneer of intelligent artistic participation, has shown several of his productions at the festival. The most recent in 2013: «Please Continue (Hamlet)» was a trial with real legal staff during which the audience represented the jury and had to determine on the guilt or innocence of Hamlet. In the beginning of 2019, Duyvendak had the idea, based on a simulation by the WHO to train West African experts in the outbreak of Ebola, to copy the pandemic scenarios and to develop a play for 100 participants in close collaboration with scientists. The input and scientific support was provided by a team around the French doctor Philipp Cano, who had been commissioned by the EU to elaborate such a simulation: from the appearance of the virus, the first sporadic cases and the increasing nationwide spread to a pandemic. Duyvendak’s team have adapted the West African scenario to a European present. While Dr. Cano chose a camel market as the source of the outbreak, it is a dog show in Duyvendak’s version. Software developers brought in elements from the world of gaming: rules, secret missions, options and rewards… And then came corona. What started off as a playful experience with a fictional situation has become an education in dealing with reality. The version shown at the Theater Spektakel allows 50 participants to find out if they have what it takes for crisis management. Solo runs and know-it-all are most probably not the most suitable of all assets. (esc)