Mercury Rising

Jefta Van Dinther (SE/DE)

What remains when language falls short?

Sun 29 Nov ’26 18:30

29 Nov ’26

18:30

29 Nov ’26

18:30

Schouwburg Kortrijk, Kortrijk

Schouwburg - Zaal OAAS

Tickets via NEXT

€ 22 / € 7 (-30) / CUBO

‘Mercury Rising’ is a thought-provoking performance that pushes the boundaries of human communication. What remains through the tangle of languages and signs is not understanding or certainty, but a shared urge for connection beyond the literal.

‘Mercury Rising’ originated from a phenomenological exploration of language. The performance, created together with and performed by Dawn Jani Birley, Rita Mazza, and Lukas Malkowski, maps out both old and future non-linear languages and moves within the realm between communication, gestures, agency, and corporeality. In doing so, the body is positioned as a changeable place of discourse: a place where meaning is created, dismantled, and transformed through movement.

While the audience is invited to decipher an abundance of signs, ‘Mercury Rising’ investigates the slippery nature of interpretation and ultimately liberates us from the need for the literal or the explanatory. After all, what we all share is not certainty but the impossibility of complete understanding and the urge to connect nonetheless.

Part of

NEXT
CUBO

Zoom in

Credits

Choreography: Jefta van Dinther | Created and performed by: Rita Mazza, Dawn Jani Birley, Lukas Malkowski | Costumes and stage: Cristina Nyffeler | Lighting design: Jonatan Winbo | Sound design: David Kiers | Backdrop surface: Gonçalo Sena | Dramaturgy: Gabriel Smeets | Artistic advice: Maja Zimmermann

Technical direction: Andrea Parolin and Fabian Bleisch | Light: Fabian Bleisch | Sound: Andrea Parolin | Management: Sven Neumann | Distribution: Sarah De Ganck, ART HAPPENS | Production management: Uta Engel and Romy Hansford-Gerber | Financial management: transmissions GmbH (DE) and Interim kultur AB (SE).

Mercury Rising is produced by Jefta van Dinther | Co-production: Norrlandsoperan Umeå, Cndc – Angers (Accueil Studio), Dansens Hus Stockholm, Dansnät Sverige, HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, PACT Zollverein Essen | Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and Fonds Darstellende Künste

In 2025 Jefta van Dinther was funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and Swedish Arts Council

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.