Over the past years Yuval Noah Harari has been topping the world’s bestseller lists. The Israeli writer, thinker and philosopher contemplates himself by contemplating the world he lives in. He is absolute in his pursuit, aiming to encapsulate the world in its entirety. This is why his literature enjoys such popularity: because it provides an all-encompassing interpretation of our fragmented times. The 2020 project seeks to depict the challenges of the near future by employing a complex and performative approach. The year 2020 is the starting point for this exploration. Various theatre performances recreate important years, including 1791, 1848, 1914, or 1968. On the other hand, some fictional works foretold future, like Orwell’s 1984. Kubrick’s brilliant 2001: A Space Odyssey questioned whether we, as a human race, can cope with the wonderful humanism-tainted message of love.

Inspired by the works of Yuval Harari, the 2020 performance focuses on human evolution and fate. Harari’s thoughts are used to build up dialogues, monologues, dance and music scenes that will take the form of a scientific vaudeville. Our aim was to create a clever, fun, and educational work addressing evolution, space, our place in the universe, existentialism, and artificial intelligence.

In seeking to transpose Harari’s world into a stage performance, theatre director Ivica Buljan has likewise looked for absoluteness, a definite answer. According to Buljan, “this performance poses the question of what is good life. This key question is structured to go beyond the philosophical and religious thought and instead focus primarily on human existence. We ask ourselves where we stand with two basic values: kindness and respect of others.”

Text used courtesy of www.cd-cc.si/​​​​​​.