![Cosmic Meaning Illusion](https://www.buda.be/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/08-1200x800.jpg)
In the 17th century, Europe experienced floods, cold winters and crop failures, leading to questions about man’s sin. Four hundred years later, nature is sick to death again and we must start asking questions again. Not about climate change, but about the threat of an end.
Theatre maker and philosophy of science Jana De Kockere delved into the history of science and got confused. In 1616, people in Western Europe saw that nature was decaying, sickened by man’s sins. Floods, cold winters, crop failures: nature was about to die. We are 406 years later and nature seems to be dying again. What does this recurrence mean? What does it mean that we once again believe in the end of the world?
However, this show is not about climate change, because what is at stake is not the truth of the ecological crisis. What is at stake is the meaning of an end. The meaning of believing in an end and the fact that this belief has a history.
De Kockere ended up with a fictional character in the present: an incarnation of an existential crisis, played by Ferre Vuye. Searching for meaning in this crisis leads to madness, but denying it just as much.
Play dates
Concept & creation: Jana De Kockere & Ferre Vuye. Directed by Jana De Kockere. Play: Ferre Vuye & Sophia Bauer. Visual direction & design: Carly Rae Heathcote. With support from: Monty, Gouvernement and Campo. In collaboration with: UGent, Department of Philosophy, supported by the Social Valorisation Fund.