toxic dreams
The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise (POSTPONED)
In The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise, toxic dreams take the audience on an absurd trip across an anonymous corporate universe. As a minor employee decides to ask his boss for a raise, he finds himself lost in the internalised conditional loops of his corporation’s organisational logic. A comedy, sugared with moments of slapstick, and a contemplative reflection on life in the algorithm and the passing of time.
The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise is based on Georges Perec’s novel of the same name. Pessimistic yet loveable, funny and always entertaining, Perec takes a searching look at the world of office work that turns out to be no less accurate today than in 1968, when he wrote the story and extracted six characters from the employee’s inner voices. Today, director Yosi Wanunu subjects those six characters to a random, absurd, tragicomic choreography of aim- and timelessness, inspired by iconic French film director Jacques Tati.
toxic dreams was established in 1997 by producer Kornelia Kilga and writer/director Yosi Wanunu. The group has since put on more than 70 productions. In perennial work cycles and collaborative procedures, toxic dreams devise both aesthetically and formally diverse formats. Their current cycle is entitled Real Fiction and deals with the meaning of the (political) narrative between the poles of truth and fiction.
Credits
Performers Markus Zett, Anat Stainberg, Stephanie Cumming, Isabella-Nora Händler, Florian Tröbinger, Anna Rot, Anna Mendelssohn Stage Paul Horn Sound design Michael Strohmann Text Georges Perec
Adapted for the stage and directed by Yosi Wanunu Assistant director Katharina Höltermann Production Kornelia Kilga
Loosely based on L’art et la manière d’aborder son chef de service pour lui demander une augmentation by Georges Perec, Editions Fayard, France. English translation by David Bellos, Verso Books, GB.
A co-production by toxic dreams and brut Wien. With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.
Dates & Tickets
May 2020
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
Postponed. Will be shown at a later date.
brut at Atelier Augarten
Scherzergasse 1a, 1020 Wien