A production inspired by the ‘hikikomori’ phenomenon in Japan, where over half a million young people have chosen to live in total isolation in their rooms, as well as by Anne Frank’s diary and ‘3096 Days’ by Natascha Kampusch.
For as long as 17-year-old Ariel can remember, he has felt trapped in a girl’s body. He has decided to isolate himself in his room. He no longer attends school and speaks to his family only through the closed door. His only contact with a peer is daily online conversations with Ayako from Japan, who introduces him to the magic of the world of literature. In his imagination, Ariel conjures up ghosts of living and dead authors. Natascha Kampusch tells him that even freedom can feel like a prison if one is not seen and understood. Anne Frank teaches him to accept himself and to believe in his own inner strength, so that hope can begin to sprout.
“Hikikomori is a truly unique and moving production that gives today’s young people a much-needed voice that speaks across generations and cultures. Here you gain insight into the profound existential questions of identity and meaning that are often at play behind the closed door of a teenager’s bedroom – and a hope that, if we listen carefully, it will be opened from within.”
David M. Larsson, philosopher, Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand
Vika Dahlberg-Hansen
Director, writer::
Giacomo Ravicchio
Artistic collaborator
Elise Müller
Composer:
Jerome Baur
Technical and workshop:
Steen Molls Rasmussen
