THRENOS (for the Throat)

Music theatre full lenth video

director: Karmina Šilec
composer: Jacob Cooper
performed by: CHOREGIE New Music Theatre
producer: Carmina Slovenica
camera: Rudi Uran
"THRENOS (for the Throat) is an exciting piece not only because of the ritual in which it engages the audience, but also because it has a strong message. The notion of understanding nature and reflection of society through the metaphor of mourning animals, stands as an experience in which connection is assured. Also the musical composition stands out as an invocation for communities, and for beauty that is given an inspirational interspace for internal reflection by the strong formality of the staging."
(Jury of Music Theatre Now 2021)

At first sight it might seem that Threnos is concerned with the care for animals. But it is actually about human beings, about us and our sense of guilt. We seek to remake a promise – but we doubt we will succeed. We realize we decided to look away from the things that burden us or which are difficult. And for that – Ashamed and ashamed for being ashamed … we close our eyes around and always –.
The transition from animal to meat intentionally mutes the life and death of its subject. Slaughtered animals generally die in concealment, and the dead are not mourned. Threnos brings to center stage what is so often hidden behind the scenes in these deaths, offering up a para-liturgical rite that provides space to reflect on a brutal act that is pervasive in—yet obscured by—the human-dominated world.Throughout Threnos, which translates literally as “wail,” the throat acts as a kind of locus—a metaphorical and literal site of language, song, slaughter, and vulnerability, connecting the mourners and the mourned in their shared physicality. The contemporary slaughterhouse also serves as an inspiration—a place where man, animal, and machine meet.