The Versions We Tell is een multimedia storytelling theatervoorstelling dat mede-mogelijik is gemaakt dankzij een bijdrage van Stichting Imaginal. Lees meer Engelstalige informatie over de voorstelling.

One story, three storytellers, ever changing perspectives.
When stories travel, as they tend to do, they change, adjusting themselves to the sensibilities of the tellers, the listeners and the times. And so we end up with many versions of the same story, each with a limited perspective and therefore incomplete.

This to the frustration of the storyteller who’s ultimate goal is to be The Narrator, the all-knowing who understands all perspectives, knows all versions and loves all characters equally. This noble goal is, of course, unachievable, for as humans our perspectives are always limited. Nevertheless it is the storyteller’s challenge to be constantly aware of these limitations and to be always looking for new viewpoints, even, and perhaps especially, those we are uncomfortable with.

In a futile attempt to portray a story in its wholeness Xina Mercken, Abhishek Thapar and Ogutu Muraya take on one of the most well-known stories in the world in a multimedia storytelling show. Together they strive to understand the story, how it came to be, how it changed, what was lost, what gained, and what, perhaps, never seen before. Leaving the audience with the question: Having heard all this, which version will I choose to tell?

Bio of the artists 
Xina Mercken, Abhishek Thapar and Ogutu Muraya are theatermakers and storytellers who share an interest in political engagement, history and, especially, in how stories are made, by whom and to what effect. Kenya based Ogutu Muraya’s work is embedded in the practice of Orature. In his work, he searches for new forms of storytelling where socio-political aspects merge with the belief that art is an important catalyst for questioning certainties. Abhishek Thapar is currently building an artistic research and practice in post-colonial epistemologies, historiographic metafiction and storytelling. Xina Mercken’s current work focuses on understanding the source of story’s power, the importance of multiplicity within stories and the responsibility of the narrator wielding the power of story.

Credits
Performers: Xina Mercken, Abhishek Thapar & Ogutu Muraya
Audiovisual technical consultant: Julian Firminger
Text: Ogutu Muraya, Abhishek Thapar & Xina Mercken
Music composition: Vincent Arp
Illustration: Kristina Jak
Production: Storytrooper
Duration of the performance: 75 minutes