TRIC

Concept and Directing: Anna Carla Maria Penati
Actors: Anna Carla Maria Penati, Marco Zavarise, Eleonora Angioletti
Playwright and Multimedia: Elizabeth Torres Hansen
Tech: Domenico Mannelli
Scientific Lead & IT Project Coordinator: Mariano Pugliese
App development: Bogdan-Alexandru Mezei, Daria Popa, Natali Munk-Jakobsen (VIA
University College, DK)
Produced by HumanLab (humanlab.studio)

TRIC - "The Real Insight Challenge" is a show that questions “augmented democracy" and civic participation, reality and representation, character and persona, visibility and intimacy through the lens of a game show.
TRIC is also an app, ad hoc created for the show, which allows the audience to vote and affect the development of the show. The play follows two contestants as they compete in a series of challenges, inspired by the legacy of Greek democratic practices, reflected on the mirror of our contemporary existence.
What is true and what is not? What is reality and what is representation? What is acting and what isn’t?
PLOT:
In a dystopic near future humanity got rid of politicians: “they were too corrupt, selfish and detached from the problems and needs of ordinary people” Humanity, therefore, created a new technological form of the democratic decision process: the digital app “TRIC" which will select two completely ordinary citizens to lead the political debate: Mat, a very shy, awkward guy who has a background in technology and programming and Jess, a housewife trying to be an influencer but not really sure why. The play follows the two contestants as they compete in a gameshow, i.e. a series of debates (regarding climate change, sustainability, and global resources). Here the app TRIC invites the spectators to vote for their preferred candidate...

The show is part of Anna Carla Maria Penati’s research “The liquid actor” which investigates the connection between Bauman’s theory “Liquid Modernity” and today's actor’s role.
"In a liquid modern life, there are no permanent bonds (…) Fragility, temporariness, vulnerability, and inclination to constant change. To be modern means to modernize. compulsively, obsessively; not so much just "to be", let alone to keep its identity intact, but forever "becoming", avoiding completion, staying underdefined. Change is the only permanence, and uncertainty is the only certainty.” Zygmunt Bauman