DARK - Artificial presence & Intelligence
DATES: 27.11.2025 + 28.11.2025
LOCATION: Grand Theatre - Groningen [NL]
A performance made by Kris Verdonck / A TWO DOGS COMPANY
+ SPOT ON | A lecture on Theatre & Ai by Claire Swyzen (VUB), Catelijne van Middelkoop & dramaturg Kristof van Baarle.
In this production, Verdonck continues his exploration of the tension between presence and absence, real and fake, the human and the technology in the contemporary time of AI. Mustaf Ahmeti and Jeroen Van der Ven perform the piece consisting of three parts: DARK, ACT #2 BRASS #2. The distinction beteen (a)live and digital becomes more vaque as DARK explores the theater space as (well as) that “other blackbox” that hides behind the pixels on our screen. The algorithms and AI that guide the many chatbots and social media platforms.
DARK blurs the line between live and digital, body and code. Behind glowing screens and glass, a performer vanishes and reappears, pulling us toward the hidden black box where algorithms breathe. Through AI, ACT #2 resurrects echoes of Beckett — a lone voice whispering in the dark as blankets rise like restless ghosts. In BRASS #2, sousaphones hum with presence, yet no player can be found.
In this eerie dance of bodies, data, and desire, even reality feels uncertain. What lives behind our screens? Who’s really in control — the human, the machine, or something in between?
PROGRAM:
17:00 - 18:15 | SPOT ON: Theater en Computerculture
Lecture with Claire Swyzen (VUB) - Made for students and educators interested in arts, media and technology.
19:00 - 19:50 | SPOT ON: Theatre and AI
Claire Swyzen, Catelijne van Middelkoop, (and Nataliia Laba), dramaturg Kristof van Baarle and on the occasion Kris Verdonck.
20:00 | DARK - Performance by Kris Verdonck / A Two Dogs Company
More information www.grandtheatregroningen.nl
