Fernando Pessoa

The Education of the Stoic

Photo: Borut Peterlin

Anton Podbevšek Theatre Novo mesto

Première: 14 December 2013, Anton Podbevšek Theatre Novo mesto
Running time 1 hour and 15 minutes. No interval.

Original title A Educação do Estóico

Translator Mojca Medvedšek
Director Kaja Tokuhisa
Composer Aldo Kumar
Dramaturg Mirta Zajc
Choreographer Magdalena Reiter
Stage designer Marko Japelj
Costume designer Nataša Recer
Video designer Gašper Brezovar
Lighting designer Simon Žižek
Sound designer Uroš Bon
Photographer Borut Peterlin

Cast
Baron de Teivo Aleš Valič
Servants/Squires Anja Drnovšek, Akira Hasegawa, Maruša Majer, Joseph Nzobandora - Jose, Lidija Sušnik, Žiga Udir

The actual relevance of the performance The Education of the Stoic can be detected already in the clearly set opening thought: "One of the most thorough and most lethal droughts in the past centuries has fallen upon us – the drought of deep realisation of the emptiness of all our efforts and the futility of all our intentions.”
This type of mindset is quite present and plausible in the period between the two world wars, although we might easily detect it today – right here. The question is whether this sense has replicated in our époque or it has stretched throughout the entire century, only to become (once again) more intensive? Is the above thought the consequence of the intellectual realisation of our own existence? And is it the rationalisation of Sense that moves us away from the world, separates us from life and – as Camus stated – creates the feeling of absurdity? Is suicide a logical answer to that realisation and the only path that leads away from absurdity?
It seems that Baron de Teive tackles the exploration of his own personality and work the way a scientist would tackle the research of cells. He penetrates the inner world with the microscope and examines the functioning of the smallest units. He rationally scrutinises and analyses events, decisions and feelings. He disassembles his appearance to primary factors (as a watchmaker would disassemble a watch to its smallest parts and examine the mechanism, as if he was never interested in time but in the mere form that defines it). Yet we don’t know if this truth and knowledge (realisation) of the functioning actually destroy the subject or save it. The Baron himself says: "I became objective towards myself. Yet I could not judge whether I found or lost myself with it.”