Simon Mayer’s new play Oh Magic is a live concert by robots and performers, a journey into a world of theatrical and technical magic and a search for the symphonic consonance of performance, dance, music, sound, robotics, light and visual art beyond all genre. Oh Magic understands itself as a ritual to celebrate vital energy, returning to the ritual origins of free bodily expression by quite simply and unacademically making music.
As piano music, synthesisers and live electronics, drums, songs and dance create a rich sound and performance landscape on stage, Oh Magic interlocks the futurist fantasies of modern technologies with the magic of the theatrical, thus addressing our ambivalent relationship with robotics and technology.
The performer, dancer, choreographer and musician Simon Mayer studied at the Vienna State Opera’s ballet school and the Performing Arts, Research and Training Studios (PARTS) in Brussels. He was a member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet. He has appeared as a dancer, among others, in the productions of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker/ROSAS, Wim Vandekeybus and Zita Swoon. He has been touring very successfully, showing his own pieces SunBengSitting and Sons of Sissy all around the world. Also, he teaches at numerous festivals and as a guest lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory.
Season Opening Party at Club-U, following the performance on 19 October at Halle G. FREE ADMISSION!
There will be a Q&A with the artists after the show on Tuesday, 24 October.
Compography, concept & performance Simon Mayer Co-creation & performance Clara Frühstück, Tobias Leibetseder, Patric Redl, Manuel Wagner Sound design Tobias Leibetseder Robot operator Manuel Wagner Costume design Andrea Simeon Light design Heinz Kasper Lighting technician & signalbox operator Jan Maria Lukas Robot electronics & technology Dominik Strzelec Sound Lukas Froschauer Dramaturge Robert Steijn Research and anthropological advice Justine François, Manuel Wagner Thanks to Julian Rubisch, Frans Poelstra, Jason Zieglmaier, Viktor Delev, Jürgen Ropp, Wim Muyllaert, Arbeitsplatz Wien Production management Hiros, Kopf Hoch (Sophie Schmeiser, Anna Erb)
A co-production by Hiros, Kopf Hoch with steirischer herbst festival (Graz), Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (Groningen), Gessnerallee (Zurich), Teaterhuset Avant Garden (Trondheim), brut Wien, Centrale Fies (Dro), Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek with GC De kroon (Brussels). With the kind support of Vlaamse Overheid, the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs , the Austrian Federal Chancellor’s Office, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Brussels. In collaboration with Tanzquartier Wien, D.ID Dance Identity, SPIEL, A. Förstl piano house. The project has been co-produced by NXTSTP with support of the European Union’s Cultural Programme.
        
brut at Halle G at Museumsquartier 
        Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna              
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                              Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna                              
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)                              
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                              Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien                              
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)                              
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not accessible
                              Breitenseer Straße 21, 1140 Vienna                              
U-Bahn: U3 (Hütteldorfer Straße) Tram: 10 (Laurentius Platz), 49 (Hütteldorfer Straße)                                                          
barrierefrei
                              Währinger Straße 59, 1090 Vienna                              
Subway: U6 (Währinger Straße / Volksoper), Tram: 40, 41, 42 (Währinger Straße / Volksoper), 5, 33 (Spitalgasse), 37, 38, 40, 41, 42 (Spitalgasse / Währinger Straße)