HARDKOOR

According to Velissariou, burnout is not a work-related illness but a disease of the whole system, physically, mentally and spiritually. Under the motto "never waste a good crisis", she therefore does the final part of her rehabilitation process in front of the audience. At a pace her body will allow at that moment, she deals with the personal and societal blind spots that have brought her to this state: her insecurity as a single mother, the pressure of social media, the disturbed relationship with her body, the cult of growth and self-improvement, the bullshitisation of our working lives, the marketisation of care, the bankruptcy of the family as the foundation of society and the constant over-stimulation of our brains as a result of our contemporary way of life.  

In HARDKOOR, Velissariou's hard-edged language, which seeks to shatter suffocating human images in a fluid combination of English and Dutch, is cut up with the mind fucking sound design of Joost Maaskant and Frank Wienk (Binkbeats). With Maaskant, Velissariou previously formed the duo PERMANENT DESTRUCTION. Producer Frank Wienk translates their sound in HARDKOOR into a composition, which explores the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music. That composition will be performed by drummer Jens Bouttery and the Netherlands Chamber Choir (NKK). The whole takes place in a set described by designer Boris Acket as a "brutalist techno-temple": a modular installation of lighting and sound technology, with a special role for the voices of the choir. The costumes consist of high fashion loungewear designed by MAISON the FAUX.

HARDKOOR is a co-production between Theatre Utrecht and the Netherlands Chamber Choir.