Ship of Fools

Stella Polaris brought back the Ship of Fools. In the Middle Ages people told tales of the so-called Ship of Fools - a mysterious ship sailing from harbour to harbour to collect the insane, the outcasts, those who didn’t belong anywhere. Nobody knows where or to what destiny they went... Later on the asylums arrived, and the Ship of Fools disappeared.

Information

(Objekt ID 4827)
Object type Production
Premiere 2003
Produced by Stella Polaris
Based on Galskapens historie i opplysningens tidsalder by Michel Foucault; Hieronymus Boschs malerier by Hieronymus Bosch; Tarotkort by
Audience Families, Adults, Youth, Children
Keywords Contemporary circus, Theatre, Physical theatre, Comedy
Running period 2003  
Website Stella Polaris

Requirements to venue

Minimum stage width 8m
Minimum stage depth 10m
Minimum stage height 6m
Blackout No
More

Ship of Fools by Stella Polaris was filled with madness. The performance was presented as a journey in which the voyage itself – and the dream of travelling – was more important than the destination. The audience followed the real mad ones as well as the outcasts through the hard and the easy days on board, where everyone had to rely on each other to survive. Some were happy, some were unhappy, but they all had a need for playing, music and love in common.

The performance Ship of Fools was inspired by the paintings of the Flemish renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch, Michel Foucault’s History of Madness and from the world of the tarot cards.

The characters were not only characters in a play; they were a result of the actors search for creative and crazy qualities inside themselves.

Source:

Stella Polaris, stella-polaris.com, 01.08.2010, http://www.stella-polaris.com/en/performances/ship-of-fools

Performance dates
2005 New opening
2003 Worldwide premiere