Modesta (play of language and lips)

Modesta (play of language and lips) is Anna Franziska Jäger & Nathan Ooms’ theatrical rendition of the coming-of-age genre, together with performers Rosie Sommers, Christine De Smedt and Arthur Loontjes. They play multiple characters who traverse different stages of life. A constant throughout the process is their pursuit of the so-called art of joy bound up with the art of losing, in a striking similarity between the two. 

The title refers to the protagonist of The Art of Joy by Goliarda Sapienza, written in the 1960s (but published three decades after). Today the figure of Modesta continues to captivate readers with her unrepentant character, her uncompromising quest for freedom that wills power and defies hypocrisy. 

Out of a passion for atheatrical, eclectic text material and a distinctly physical approach to acting, Ooms and Jäger create a universe in which text, image and movement playfully intermingle. Their aim is to intensify the metaphorical dimension of language, in the idea that metaphors are a way to liberate and confuse our thinking, about ourselves, the other or the 'world'. Metaphor as a form of language in motion; capricious, unexpected. But what happens when one completely blurs the line between metaphor and actuality?  

"I will stay in the fray, in the revel of ideas and risk; learning, failing, wooing, grieving, trusting, working, reposing - in this sin of language and lips.”

Love’s Work, Gillian Rose 

Modesta (play of language and lips) will premiere in the fall of 2024 at CAMPO.