Agnes Oberauer
HUBRIS 12:4 [A HERO’S JOURNEY]

“Hubris 12: 4 [a hero’s journey]” is titled after the 12 heroic deeds of Herakles and the four family members, his wife and three children, that he killed in a fit of what, in Greek times, was attributed to the goddess of madness and today would be coined a severe case of PTSD. The performance investigates the role of the hero and the contradictory expectations we have of them.

The hero’s mask sets the hero apart from the anonymous group of the chorus, but in no way makes the figure wear the mask an individual or psychological subject. On the contrary: the mask integrates the tragic figure into a strictly defined social category. The conflict of the tragic hero must be fought out in public, submitted to the scrutiny and judgement of fellow man.

We expect our heroes to be larger than life, to perform the impossible and remain human, bridging the gap between mortality and immortality, godlike perfection and human fragility. At the peak of his achievements the hero is placed on a pedestal, applauded, admired and, looked at. He becomes an object, a fetish, a trophy. Meanwhile the hero’s mask becomes a prison and inevitably the hero stops performing and starts losing his pace. What happens then? When the hero, whose role is to fight, to defend, to attack, returns home, what happens? What happens when the lights are out, and the game is over?

Agnes Oberauer is a theatre director and performance artist. She was born in Vienna and grew up in Russia, Ukraine and Austria. Upon completing her BA in Drama and Philosophy at the Royal Holloway, University of London, she moved to Germany to work as a resident assistant director and director at Schlosstheater Celle and Thalia Theater Hamburg for five years. During her time in Germany, she assisted internationally renowned directors such as Kornél Mundruczó. Jette Steckel, Christiane Jatahy, Ene-Liis Semper and Tiit Ojasoo. She also directed over ten theatre productions, most notably a multilingual version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Schlosstheater Celle) and an adaptation of ‘The World of Yesterday’ (Thalia Theater Hamburg). She created immersive performance happenings, taught various workshops and led projects with children, teenagers and refugees. She received multiple awards for her multicultural artistic work. 2019 she founded an international immersive theatre company (www. instantgratificationcollective.com) and continues to work internationally as a freelance director and performance maker.

Text: HOMER, EURIPIDES, AGNES OBERAUER, CHRISTIANO RONALDO, LIONEL MESSI, DIEGO MARADONNA, DAVID BECKHAM, ANTOINE GRIEZMANN, JOHAN CRUYFF, EMINEN, K’NAAN and others.
Music: Eminem, K’naan

Premiere on 1st February 2020 in Von Krahl Theatre (Tallinn)