Man or woman? That is the question that “MDLSX” revolves around. Silvia Calderoni presents a masterful gender performance that transgresses beyond gender binaries; it undermines and blurs these borders in order to show how absurd their construction really is. The actress takes us with her on a journey to the core of ourselves, reaching beyond definition and categorization. “MDLSX” is both biography and fiction, a mix of theory and Indie music, DJ performance and home video. The camera, which Calderoni often operates herself, is merely an external eye. Although it is relentlessly intrusive, its perspective remains superficial. It cannot wholly capture the more complex inner truth that “MDLSX” evokes. At once fictional and personal, this piece searches for new forms of identity formation. Silvia Calderoni, who has been a member of the radical Italian theatre company MOTUS for ten years, uses “MDLSX” to experiment with DJing as a form of theatre. Just like a priestess, she stands enthroned behind her Dj podium – a harbinger of a cult of fluid gender identities. Man or woman? In the end, you will feel like reformulating the question in order to ask: does it really matter?
Production Motus 2015
In collaboration with La Villette - Résidence D’artistes 2015 Paris, Create To Connect (Eu Project) Bunker/ Mladi Levi Festival Ljubjana, Santarcangelo 2015 Festival Internazionale Del Teatro In Piazza, L’arboreto - Teatro Dimora Di Mondaino, Marche Teatro
With the support of Mibact, Regione Emilia Romagna
Duration 80 minutes