INDEX

This INDEX supplements the Reacclimating the Stage (Skenomorphoses) project's INDEX.

Click here to open the latter in another tab. Then, please return to this window

to continue hyper-reading Data Ocean Theatre (Out of the Blue).

A

Amphitrite

Amphitrite is a sea goddess in Greek mythology, known as the queen of the seas and oceans. She is one of the fifty Nereids, the daughters of Doris, an Oceanid, and Nereus, the ancient sea god. Originally, Amphitrite was a reluctant bride; she fled from her future husband Poseidon's advances but was eventually found by a dolphin, who persuaded her to return and marry him. In gratitude, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the stars as the constellation Delphinus. Amphitrite is often depicted in art as the mother of sea life and a nurturing force within the ocean's depths.

Aallottaret (Oceanids)

The Oceanids are a group of sea nymphs in Greek mythology, daughters of the Titans Tethys and Oceanus. There are said to be thousands of Oceanids, each representing various bodies of water, including rivers, lakes, streams, and springs. The Oceanids are often depicted as youthful maidens who inhabit and protect the waters they represent. Some of the more famous Oceanids include Metis, the goddess of wisdom, and Styx, the goddess of the eponymous river, which forms the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld. In mythology, the Oceanids played various roles, sometimes acting as attendants to other gods and goddesses, particularly Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Their vast numbers and widespread influence across different sources underscore their importance in Greek mythology as guardians of the water world.

Aquastage

An aquastage is a reimagined theatrical space and time that embodies the principles of fluidity, interconnectedness, and the micro/macro, interplanetary and corporeal, cyclical rhythms inherent to aquatic environments. Attuned to and driven by the ecosophical ideas of hydrofeminism, which underlines the interdependence of all life forms and water, the porous boundaries between human and other-than-human entities, aquastage challenges traditional, static, homochronic, and solidified notions of the Western stage (as anthropo-centre) by welcoming the dynamic, ever-changing materiality and temporality of water. Tidal thinking, which focuses on the cyclical, non-linear progression of time and events, informs the temporal structure of aquastage, allowing for performances that reflect the expanded rhythms of bio- and techno-environments rather than the rigid sequences typical of conventional theatre-making. Aquastage becomes a milieu and a medium where traditional boundaries between actor and environment, human and other-than-human, are mixing, generating a more inclusive and multi-species form of performance. It is a speculative space-time that invites new forms of narration (seaformance) and scenography (seanography).

Intentionally sounding like an amusement park attraction, the term aquastage also welcomes the dimensions of playfulness, serendipity, and the occasional slippery slope, where fun and failure are integral parts of the experience. This playful aspect balances the seriousness of both the ecological concerns at stake and the academic context in which the research process takes place, creating a space-time where farce and comedy serve as essential complements to the tragic. Here, the stage is both a site of ecological exploration and a place for joyful, chaotic engagement, where the serious and the absurd intermingle fluidly.

Atlantis

Atlantis is a multifaceted concept within the Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.) project, functioning as a model, reference, and symbol in exploring themes of submersion, loss, and transformation. Originating from Plato’s dialogues Timaeus and Critias, Atlantis is depicted as a powerful, advanced civilization that eventually succumbs to a cataclysmic inundation, disappearing beneath the ocean. As a model, Atlantis serves as an archetype for examining the rise and fall of civilizations, particularly in relation to their interactions with the environment. It represents the potential consequences of technological and ecological excesses, offering insights into how advanced societies might face environmental and societal collapse. In the context of D.O.T., Atlantis is used as a backdrop/table of contents for scenes and scenarios where contemporary cultures and technologies are tested by climate change and ecological pressures, drawing parallels between ancient myths and current global challenges. Atlantis acts as a historical and cultural reference point for exploring themes of loss, memory, and recovery. Its legend is invoked to address how societies remember and interpret their past failures and achievements. Referencing to Atlantis allows for a reimagining of the narratives surrounding disappearance and re-emergence, paralleling contemporary issues such as rising sea levels, and environmental degradation. It also provides a lens through which to investigate how myths can inform and inspire contemporary responses to crises. Symbolically, Atlantis represents the ultimate fate of civilizations that fail to heed warnings about environmental sustainability and social equity. It embodies the tension between human hubris and limits, performing as a metaphor for contemporary issues of climate change, technological impacts, and societal shifts. In the D.O.T. framework, Atlantis symbolizes both the potential for destruction and the possibility of resilient renewal, reflecting the dual themes of catastrophic loss and transformative potential. Within the context of D.O.T., Atlantis is reimagined not just as a lost city but as a dynamic symbol of how submerged narratives and submerged knowledge can inform new forms of artistic and ecological thinking-making. This involves as well using Atlantis as a metaphor for uncovering and integrating overlooked or marginalized stories and practices into contemporary discourse. The publication menu from which users are invited to randomly dive into the project formally refers to speculations of plans of the city of Atlantis found online. The final form of the menu evoking the sunken city was obtained by vertically doubling the plan of the theatre of Epidaurus serving as a menu for the doctoral publication Reacclimating the Stage (Skenomorphoses) with which Data Ocean Theatre (Out of the Blue) forms a diptych. In addition to visually activating this diptych, the evocation of Atlantis, embedding the tragic dimension described above, dramatically resonates with the cradle of Greek tragedy represented by Epidaurus.

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D

DATA OCEAN THEATRE
In the context of Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.), data refers to the vast and ever-expanding body of digital information that shapes contemporary life. This covers everything from big data (massive datasets generated by computational technologies) to the emotional and psychological impacts of living in a data-saturated world. The project critically examines how this "data ocean" influences narratives, societal structures, and the evolution of theatre in a time of climate emergency and technological hypergrowth. Data is here considered as a metaphorical ocean, fluid and overwhelming, contributing to the concept of "submersion" as a contemporary condition.

Discipline-fluidity

Discipline-fluidity is the concept of an individual's or a collective's capacity to transition between, integrate, and redefine artistic, academic, or professional disciplines. More than merely engaging in interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity, which operate within predefined disciplinary boundaries, discipline-fluidity challenges the very notion of discipline as a fixed or singular entity. Instead, it understands disciplines as hybrid, mutable, and ever-expanding fields of practice, shaped by hybridization and reinvention. Drawing parallels to gender-fluidity, which embraces a flexible and fluctuating range of gender expressions, discipline-fluidity similarly embodies a non-binary, adaptable approach to knowledge, art practice, and research. It emphasises the porous, dynamic, and ecosystemic nature of disciplines, enabling the blending of diverse methodologies, techniques, and perspectives. In artistic research, discipline-fluidity manifests through practices and methods which not only combine methodologies from distinct, predefined disciplinary fields (interdisciplinarity) but also question and reconstruct their very foundations, proposing new forms of thinking-making. Aligned with queer theoretical frameworks, discipline-fluidity critiques and reconfigures straight, normative, and dominant disciplinary structures by translating principles such as diversity, non-normativity, transformation, and intersectionality into methodological dynamics. It positions disciplines as contingent and evolving assemblages, always in dialogue with broader social, cultural, and theoretical shifts, thus advancing a practice of sense-making that is open-ended, inclusive, and metamorphic.

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Ecosystem (Artistic Research as...)

Artistic Research as Ecosystem is an approach that implements the relationship between art and research as a lively, dynamic, interconnected environment, rather than through a fragmented, linear, polarised, or hierarchical distribution. The use of the biological term "ecosystem" emphasises the vital fluidity of disciplines, materials, methods, and expertise, opening a relational space and time where artistic practice and research process coexist, entangle, and evolve symbiotically as multiple yet singular, ever-changing organisms. In this ecosystem, research is not conducted nor made visible separately through the traditional scientific ternary protocol (hypothesis-experiment-results) or the conventional norms and modes of exegetic writing about art practices, manifesting through inherited presentation formats (such as articles, books, or conference papers). Instead, it aims to create new aesthetic-epistemic dispositifs, situations, formations, and languages that might sometimes overlap with art-making itself, encompassing the research within, or sometimes perform the differ.e/a.nce of the two. This approach values the preservation and development of art’s specific qualities while exploring context-responsive ways to render this overlap/differentiation visible. The artist-researcher’s role within this ecosystem extends beyond merely adapting methodology through questions, plans, and experiments - the tacit activity of research and a necessary condition for building artistic research as an ecosystem - in isolation. It involves curating and inventing an inclusive stage where experimentation can happen - where methodologies are tested, questioned, and reformulated collaboratively and through art’s inherent conditions. Artistic Research as Ecosystem thus breaks free from the binary polarisation of art and research, inviting participation in cultivating an ethos, a mindset, even a way of life, a paradigm shift in thinking-making through art, as a synchronic and diachronic mosaic of iterations and transformations of the art process and its objects, including the ever-recontextualised visibility of the research questions within.

Ecodrama-

The suffix Ecodrama- (Ecodrama, Ecodramaturgy, Ecodramatic Theatre) represents a conceptual and practical extension beyond the post-dramatic paradigm (Lehmann, 1999), reflecting/implementing a significant shift in the way theatre, drama, stage, and performance engage in environmental and broader ecological issues. This term encompasses three key dimensions:

1. Topicality: Ecodrama- emphasizes the urgent relevance of environmental and broader ecological themes in contemporary performing arts. It involves e.g. addressing pressing issues such as climate urgency, resource depletion, and environmental justice through theatrical and performative practices, aiming to trigger greater awareness of these topics. However, addressing these issues through conventional means of production, which often rely on resource-heavy practices and inherited anthropocentric patterns, can appear contradictory, raising questions about energy use, sustainability, infrastructure, and aesthetic thinking.

2. Sustainability: This pragmatic Ecodrama- approach incorporates principles of sustainability by focusing on the conservation of resources and minimizing the environmental impact of scenic practices and modes of production. This includes the use of recycled materials, energy-efficient technologies, and practices, including travel and logistics, that reduce waste and carbon footprints. Furthermore, Ecodrama- cultivates an ethos of care and attentiveness, opening pathways for more empathetic and interconnected performance practices. It implements new formations for a renewed relational ecology, encouraging hands-on initiatives that reconsider diversity, acknowledge vulnerability, and open alternative spaces and times for human and other-than-human generative entanglements.

3. Aesthetic (Poetic) Paradigm Shift: Ecodrama- represents a fundamental ecological shift in systems of representation and perception in Western theatre. It moves beyond traditional architectonics, representational models, and dramatic structures to explore new ways of engaging with and experiencing the contemporary condition. This involves rethinking how performances are created, processed, and shared, focusing on poetic experiences that reflect the interconnectedness of human and other-than-human systems and agents. Ecodrama- challenges, therefore, inherited Western notions of stage, scenography, acting, spectatorship, and narrative, proposing a more integrative, heterogeneous, and re-scaled approach to them.

For over a decade, I have explored the latter third dimension (which includes the first two) through a range of experiments and conceptual formulations. My work has sought to deepen the understanding of the stage as a milieu, i.e. a dynamic, complex, and too vast to grasp environment, where human and other-than-human agents meet and interact. Terms like reacclimating the stage, redirecting, hyperdramatic theatre, xenoperformativity, stage as milieu (as opposed to stage as centre), deep(ening the) stage, and other speculative notions represent attempts to reconceptualise the stage in light of ecosophy, considering ecodrama- as the next move after post-dramatic theatre. These aesthetic experiments reflect an urgent need to re-ecologise the infrastructures, the distribution of the agencies, the processes, the methods, and the shared outcomes of Western theatre-making.

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Friendship (as Terrain and Method)

Friendship as a methodological approach in artistic research involves treating collaborative relationships as an integral component of the research process. This approach positions friendship not merely as a social condition or supportive framework but as a dynamic, transformative force that actively shapes and informs artistic research and its ethos. By inviting collaborators-friends with diverse practices into one's research space-time-movement, friendship becomes a fertile terrain and a generative mechanism for making multiple viewpoints and methodologies touch. Friendship cultivates a horizontal distribution of decision-making and labour, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued. It also brings in a fundamental sense of joy.

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H

Hanzaki

Hanzaki is a term used in Japan to refer to the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), one of the largest amphibians on planet Earth. This remarkable creature can grow up to five feet in length and is native to the rivers and streams of Japan. The Hanzaki has a flattened body and head, with a mottled, brownish-gray skin that allows it to blend into its aquatic environment. In Japanese folklore, the Hanzaki is often surrounded by a sense of mystery and reverence due to its ancient, almost prehistoric appearance. Its name is said to derive from the Japanese term "hanzaki", meaning "half torn", which relates to the belief that the salamander could survive being cut in two, reflecting its perceived resilience and regenerative capabilities. The giant salamander plays a significant role in Japanese culture, often being featured in legends and local traditions. In some stories, it is depicted as a creature with supernatural powers, capable of causing floods or other natural disasters when angered.

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Iku-Turso

Iku-Turso is a mysterious and fearsome sea monster in Finnish mythology. Often described as an ancient and malevolent creature, Iku-Turso is associated with the dark and dangerous aspects of the sea. His name, which combines "Iku" (meaning eternal or everlasting) and "Turso" (likely deriving from a word related to "monster" or "beast"), emphasises his timeless and terrifying nature. In some legends, Iku-Turso is depicted as a giant, octopus-like creature or a sea serpent, embodying the chaos and unpredictability of the ocean. He is sometimes linked to the underworld or destructive biospheric forces, representing the unknown and the uncontrollable elements of the sea. Iku-Turso appears in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, where he is depicted as an adversary to the heroes of the saga.

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Mare Theatrum

Mare Theatrum represents a conceptual shift from the classical idea of Theatrum Mundi (theatre of the world), a concept rooted in Renaissance and early modern philosophy that portrays the world as a stage and human life as an ongoing dramatic play. While Theatrum Mundi traditionally manifests as the human-centred stage, where human actions and dramas unfold under the gaze of a metaphysical audience or divine spectators, Mare Theatrum introduces a paradigm that repositions the stage within an oceanic and eco/techno-logical, actual and metaphorical, context. In Mare Theatrum, the "mare" (Latin for "sea") replaces/displaces "theatrum" (theatre), proposing a shift from anthropocentric to other-than-human perspectives and agencies. This new paradigm focuses on the sea, its ecosystems, and its symbolic and material impact on human and other-than-human life. It explores how the sea, as a vast and dynamic environment and working site/partner, can reframe our understanding of theatricality and drama. Unlike Theatrum Mundi, which is grounded in terrestrial and often human-centred dramas, Mare Theatrum speculates that the sea is the stage and the stage is the sea. This approach redefines theatrical space-time to include the watery, unpredictable, and often turbulent environments of the marine world. Mare Theatrum recognises that the sea is inhabited by diverse forms of life and ecological processes that are not merely decorative backdrops but active agents in the ecodrama. It challenges the traditional human-centric view by integrating the perspectives of other-than-human actors, such as marine life, ecosystems, and climate forces, into the scenographic practices.

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O

Out of the Blue

Beyond the embedded aquatic metaphor and the potential understanding of the expression in relation to the (No signal or BSOD) digital blue screen, Out of the Blue refers to a creative and research methodology that embraces serendipity, chance, and spontaneity as components of the process. This approach is rooted in the conviction that unplanned events can lead to unexpected outcomes and alternative perspectives. By intentionally inviting unpredictability into the process, Out of the Blue cultivates an environment where accidents, mistakes, and failures are not only accepted but also seen as valuable opportunities/sites for research. This method challenges traditional, linear approaches to knowledge production, instead favouring a more organic, fluid, and experimental way. Whether through random experimentation or improvisation, Out of the Blue as a supplementary method highlights the transformative potential of stepping outside structured frameworks. It emphasises a sense of playfulness in all exploration. By choosing Out of the Blue as the subtitle of its final publication, the project signals its drift from conventional academic or scientific order. It invites the reader, or hyper-reader, to dive directly into the material, entering a maze-like structure where meaning is rarely imposed but discovered through singular exploration. In the exposition, Out of the blue is also the title for the dialogue with Nina Liebenberg.

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Psamides

The Psamides, also known as the Nereids of sand in Greek mythology, are "minor" deities associated with sand and beaches. They are often considered daughters of Amphitrite, the sea goddess, and husband Poseidon. The Psamides personify the sands of the shoreline, symbolising the boundary between land and sea. While not as prominent as other mythological figures, the Psamides are part of the broader pantheon of spirits, depicted as benevolent figures who protect the beaches and guide those who wander along the shores.

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Reacclimating the Stage (II)

In response to the new techno-bio-climatic regimes and the urgent need for a radical transformation of stage practices in the face of anthropo(s)cenic challenges, I have developed the concept of "reacclimating the stage". This term establishes a direct connection with the history of relations between humanity and the other-than-human world, specifically referencing the plant world and « acclimatization gardens ». These gardens, which emerged in colonialist Europe in the late 19th century, were used to introduce and acclimatize exotic plant species for entertaining the visitors to urban parks in European capitals, as well as for scientific, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and commercial use. Reacclimating the stage thus invokes a critical and resilient inversion of this legacy of appropriation, proposing a process of reorientation. The prefix "re-" in "reacclimate" suggests a return to ancient theatrical poetics, such as those rooted in cosmic relations (ancient Greek theatre), landscapes (Basque pastoral), and animist traditions (Japanese Kagura), but also practices that acknowledge the interconnection of human and other-than-human actors. However, this potentially conservative gesture of returning must be balanced by alternative interpretations of « re- », emphasising transformative dynamics oriented toward the future. These interpretations include re-action (as in responding to climate change, re-orientate...), reciprocity (as in rebalancing or justice repair), and iterative variation (as in re-formulating). Through this expanded lens, at once both anachronistic and forward-looking, Reacclimating the stage envisions a pluralistic approach to scenic practices, a reparative and hypersensitive stage practice attuned to the ever-evolving climates and ecosystems, based on exchanges of agency between human and other-than-human beings and matters.

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Seaformance (Sea-sensitive Performance)

Animated by the principles of discipline-fluidity, Seaformance operates beyond conventional artistic categories, integrating elements of theatre, site-sensitive art, marine science, digital media, techno-animism, and environmental activism, among others. It draws on the concept of performance “by, with, in, on, for, and/or under” the sea, addressing the ocean as both a literal and metaphorical stage. Seaformances are artistic formations oriented toward the sea that include a wide variety of media, materials, and display modalities. A Seaformance can appear (disappear, reappear,...) as an object, installation, ritual, ceremony, scene, protocol, event, or a discipline-fluid happening or thing, yet uncategorised. In Seaformance, the ocean and its ecosystems (bio and techno) are not mere settings but active participants in the performance. This concept reflects the project’s focus on ecodramaturgy and multi-agential dynamics, where human and other-than-human actors, including marine life, all waters, and digital entities, co-perform. Seaformance can take place in diverse environments, from coastal landscapes to submerged settings, or in digital milieus, exploring the intersections between physical and digital realities. Seaformance also aligns with discipline-fluidity, blurring the boundaries between art forms and methodologies. It invites collaboration among artists, architects, scientists, and activists. As such, seaformances can integrate scientific data, environmental narratives, and digital simulations.

Seanography

Seanography is an approach to scenography within the Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.) project, which focuses on the dynamics of the sea in general, and marine waters in particular, and which is rooted in both historical and contemporary practices. Originally, this concept was inspired by the tradition of wave and sea machines in theatre, mechanised devices from the Baroque period that triggered the illusion of the sea on stage. These early innovations aimed to immerse the audience in maritime experiences during the theatrical performance, reinforcing the realism and drama of nautical narratives. Seanography in D.O.T. plays with these historical techniques and metamorphoses them by integrating contemporary advanced technologies, such as algorithmic simulations, 3D printing and interactive video game environments. These tools enable the prototyping of aquastages that perform the fluid and ever-changing state of seas and oceans (made of water or data, or both), welcoming, in particular, the principles of hydrofeminism and tidal thinking. Seanography also goes beyond the limits of traditional theatrical architecture by following the genealogies and practices of site-sensitive art, no longer operating by representing the sea “on stage” in an anthropocentric and decorative way, but by exploring and staging new forms of theatricality outside the conventional “black box” theatre, hospitable to the other-than-human agency. It moves in times and spaces ”by, in, on, under” the sea, as well as in digital or online environments, challenging the very notion of what a stage can be. Seanography can involve the activation of performances on coastal landscapes, underwater, or in digital seas, where the environment itself becomes an active participant in the techno-eco-drama, redefining the relationship between performer, audience, and space-time. In this expanded vision, Seanography is not limited to the design of stage environments; it is about probing new dimensions of theatricality and drama in the context of seascapes and the ever-changing digital realities. Through Seanography, as a method, apparatus, and fabulation, D.O.T. seeks to explore a new scenographic potential to engage in the world beyond its inherited and solid(ified) architecture and modus operandi. It transforms the concept of the stage into a versatile, multi-environmental space that resonates with the complex ecological and technological simultaneity of our times.

Simultaneous Environments

Simultaneous Environments is a concept within the Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.) project that reimagines the traditional theatre backdrop, moving from static, idealised representations of "nature" (painted landscapes) to dynamic spaces and times that reflect the complex, heterogeneous, and interconnected circumstances of the contemporary condition. This approach not only alters how environments are addressed on stage but also introduces a new understanding of what constitutes an environment in theatrical and performative contexts when shifting from the comprehension of the stage as centre to that of stage as milieu. In this framework, Simultaneous Environments are characterised by their multitemporal and multiscalar qualities and quantities, operating across various timescales, from the immediate, real-time interactions of the performance to the deep time of ecological and geological processes, and encompassing a range of spatial and temporal scales, beyond human history, perception, and agency from the microscopic to the macroscopic. These environments are no longer solid framing decors responding to an anthropocentric "here and now" but are living, evolving spaces where multiple biospheric, interplanetary, and digital presences and temporalities coexist and interact.

Simultaneous Environments is the first part of D.O.T.. It was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and comprises six works: Amphitrite, The Backdrop And Its Double, Iphigenia in Aulis, Gobo, Festival, and All the Seas the Seas.

Submersion

Submersion is a central concept within the Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.) project, reflecting the intricate, often overwhelming entanglement of simultaneous biological and technological environments. This term reflects the sense of being overwhelmed by the multifaceted crises and transformations of the 21st century, ranging from rising sea levels and climate emergencies to the exponential growth of data and the pervasive influence of algorithmic technologies. Submersion conveys the experience of being overwhelmed, not just physically by environmental changes like flooding or rising waters, but also metaphorically by the overflow of information, digital-oriented emotions, and the dizzying interconnectedness of life in a digitised, networked reality. Submersion explores the feeling of being "drowned" in the complexities and contradictions of the (post-)human condition as a consequence of global warming and big data growth, where the boundaries between the organic and the synthetic are increasingly blurred. This concept extends beyond the physical act of drowning to address a broader existential condition, being submerged in simultaneous environments that are both biological (oceans, ecosystems, living organisms) and technological (data flows, digital landscapes, AI). These environments interact and overlap in ways that create a constant dynamic of overflow, where the capacity to process, understand, or manage the influx of stimuli and information is perpetually exceeded. In addition to its environmental and existential dimensions, Submersion also refers to a craft strategy involving the deliberate submergence of materials, bodies, and processes. This can be understood both physically and metaphorically. Physically, it might involve immersing materials in environments that affect their properties or behaviours, such as submerging a theatre backdrop in water to explore its textural changes or embedding technology in bio settings to investigate its interaction with the environment. Metaphorically, it involves embedding or integrating artistic practices deeply within the contexts they seek to engage in allowing these practices to be "drowned" in and influenced by their surroundings. This approach parallels the concept of seaformance (sea performance), which emphasises the creation of performances that are not merely about representing the sea or maritime themes "on stage" but are immersed in the conditions of the sea themselves.

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DATA OCEAN THEATRE
In Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.), theatre is addressed not merely as a traditional performance space but as a dynamic, multi-agential milieu that reflects the profound climatic and technological shifts of the 21st century. Moving beyond the conventional concept of stage-as-centre, theatre within D.O.T. is understood as a site for ecological and temporal renegotiation, where human and other-than-human actors, including artificial entities, share the stage in a re-temporalised, re-ecologised environment. This approach challenges the inherent anthropocentrism of Western theatre by exploring how scenic practices can adapt to accommodate other-than-human agencies and temporalities, facilitating a shift from a top-down direction to a more decentralised, in medias res practice of redirecting. Theatre here is an experimental space for enacting new forms of scenic thinking, where the stage functions as a milieu of hyper-hospitality and coexistence, addressing the environmental and digital crises of our time through speculative, hyperdramatic, and post-theatrical practices.

Tragedy and the Goddexxes (Re-mythologising the Western Stage):

Tragedy and the Goddexxes is a critical revision of the classical exegetic concept of "Tragedy and the Gods" within the Data Ocean Theatre (D.O.T.) project, infusing it with gender neutrality, queering, and a commitment to justice repair. This term represents a radical shift from the traditional, patriarchal structures of Western theatre and mythology, seeking to re-mythologise these foundations in ways that are inclusive, diverse, and attentive to marginalised narratives. In classical Western theatre, tragedy often centres on the intervention or influence of gods, powerful, often alpha male deities, who impose moral and existential dilemmas on human characters, typically reinforcing hierarchical structures and norms. Tragedy and the Goddexxes disrupts this paradigm by introducing goddexxes, a gender-neutral, queer term that challenges binary and heteronormative representations of divinity. This reconfiguration opens up space for more fluid, inclusive, and hybrid expressions of power, identity, and agency. Through this paradigm shift, Tragedy and the Goddexxes also transforms the very notion of the tragic itself. Traditionally, the tragic is rooted in themes of inevitability, human suffering, and the consequences of hubris or moral failings, often culminating in a catastrophic end. These narratives have historically been framed within a patriarchal context, emphasising human limitations and the often punitive nature of divine intervention. However, in the context of Tragedy and the Goddexxes, the tragic is redefined not as an inescapable consequence of human flaws, but as a space and time for exploring the complexities of justice, power, and coexistence in a world that is interconnected and interdependent. The tragic, under this new lens, is not merely about the downfall of the individual but about the collective struggle to navigate and reconcile diverse, often conflicting, narratives, identities, and ecological realities. Furthermore, this reimagined tragic also resonates with the profound emotional dimensions associated with today’s multiple, intersecting crises. In an era marked by climate emergency, social upheaval, algorithmic proliferation, and widespread environmental degradation, the concept of submersion evokes not just physical or environmental immersion but also an overwhelming emotional submersion in sorrows, fears, and collective grief. This emotional dimension is central to the experience of the tragic within Tragedy and the Goddexxes, reflecting the deep affective responses to the crises that seem to define our times. Tragedy and the Goddexxes recognises that contemporary tragedies are not just rhetorical exercises in fate and morality; they are lived experiences that provoke affective responses — sorrow, anger, despair, but also resilience, empathy, hope, regeneration, and solidarity. These emotions are tied to the experience of being submerged in a world that is simultaneously utopian and dystopian, where the forces of destruction and the potential for renewal coexist. The tragic here is therefore a collective affective experience, a shared emotional condition that shapes how communities understand and respond to the crises they are (inequally) in.

Tragedy and the Goddexxes is the second, and core, part of Data Ocean Theatre. It is composed of six episodes named after the successive phases of classical Greek tragedy: I.Prologos, II.Parodos, III.Epeisodion, IV.Stasimon, V.Kommos, and VI.Exodos.

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Xixili

In Basque mythology, Xixili (sometimes spelled "Zizili" or "Sorgina Xixili") is a lesser-known but intriguing figure often associated with the world of witches and supernatural beings. She is typically depicted as a beautiful and seductive woman who resides in the waters, particularly in springs, rivers, or near the coast. Xixili is believed to have the ability to shapeshift, often transforming into a mermaid-like creature with duck feet. Xixili's role in Basque mythology is somewhat ambiguous; she is seen as both a protective spirit and a potentially dangerous being. On one hand, she is known to offer protection to those who respect the water sources she inhabits. On the other hand, like many mythical water spirits, Xixili can be vengeful if disrespected or if someone trespasses into her domain. In some tales, Xixili is associated with witchcraft, embodying the duality of the witch figure in Basque folklore, capable of both benevolence and malice.

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