blackSKYwhite certain to shock at summit

blackSKYwhite certain to shock at summit

The radical Russian theater group, blackSKYwhite, is due to take the stage as the last act in Art Summit Indonesia 2004, with performances at 8 p.m. on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10 at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta.

The group was first established in 1988 and soon became widely known for its progressive, nontraditional and stylish performances.

Theater blackSKYwhite is perhaps the most adequate embodiment of Antonin Artaud's "theater of cruelty" concept.

Some of its interpretations were described in The Herald newspaper as "a waking nightmare. It is very, very scary.

"The show is like a panto that has gone badly wrong, a slasher movie in which you are the victim, a circus act where the clowns have run amok with meat cleavers.

"You admire its brilliance and hate it for its lack of humanity. It is theater and it is antitheater."

The reaction of Jakarta audiences to a dramatic presentation of such memorable intensity could be interesting, to say the least.