FAQ

1. How would you describe SIGNA’s work?
We describe our work as performance installations since they combine the aesthetics of both traditions. Our work is site-specific in that we re-purpose and stage abandoned buildings, industrial structures and camp-sites in order to create detailed self-contained environments inhabited by several types of characters. We create performances which are based on improvisations within a fictional framework, often playing continuously for many days and nights non-stop. The role of the audience is immersive, so in many ways, their presence is of equal importance to ours. Many of them stay for several days with us in the installations, which affects the story in a multitude of ways that are unknown to us when we begin. By utilizing the social and spatial structures of the actual world, we strive to minimize the distance between spectator and the performer, to obliterate the traditional gap, and to unite them in an ongoing negotiation of the different structures within society. We suspend the outside world and provide an alternative, thereby enabling the audience to reflect comparatively from a different point of view.

2. Your practice combines principles of theatre, performance, film, design and photography. How do these different disciplines interplay in your work?
Our work is imbued with references from a diverse set of sources, and as a result, we do not intentionally distinguish between disciplines as such. It is always a matter of context, so regardless of whether it is video or sound installation, the emphasis is on creating layers that mesh with each other, and further the overall work.
We prefer to do as much of the work as possible ourselves – or at least maintain creative control in terms of sound, light, web content, graphic design, set design, multimedia, costumes and so on. The actors are involved in different areas of the production, depending on their interests, skills and experience.

3. How did you develop this way of working? And could you talk about your own participation in your art?
After leaving university I set off to do installation art, funding my projects as a champagne girl in the go-go bars of Copenhagen. My first work was Precious Fallen, an art installation in the contemporary sense, but I was left unsatisfied. I decided that I needed to be present as a part of whatever work I would do in the future. The interaction with the audience is essential to me, not necessarily on the symbolic or collective level but hands on, one on one. I learned very much about performing in the go-go bars, in the magical semi-reality of those places. Everything is staged there, yet everything can happen. I like the staged intimacy, the secrecy, the possibilities. I am often misunderstood on this point. Our work is not about the erotic (not exclusively anyway), but what I learned in my red velvet past I now use to create very different staged realities, whether they be clinical, occult, sinister or absurd.
The notion of not participating in the performance installations myself is foreign to me. I do not think I would be able to understand the work if I wasn't there, inside it. I also believe all practical work should ideally be done by the performers. I don’t subscribe to the idea of working in mutually exclusive groups.

4. What is it that inspires you to begin new projects and create new works?
When we receive an invitation from a host (a festival, theatre or art institution), our point of departure is preferably the site. Sometimes we are commissioned to create a piece for a particular space, and other times we have several options. I always find it difficult to explain where the inspiration for a new concept comes from. The stories, the aesthetic feel, the nature and mood of the actions that will occur ... all these things seem to be embedded in the site already. Then the hard work follows, realizing and elaborating on the initial vision, compromising, and adapting to what comes. We sometimes draw inspiration from existing narratives in literature, cinema, even mythologies - but we do not adapt directly. Rather, the inspiration material becomes fragmented and entwined with new fiction we create in the working process.

5. How do you find your sites?
The producing theatres or festivals usually present us with various options, but finding sites is a complicated process since it is such an essential part of inspiring the project. It is often a compromise between our wishes for the space, the feel and condition of the site, and the limitations of logistics i.e. budget, cast size, practical concerns.

6. Do you write your concepts for the sites, or do you start with a concept and then look for a suitable site?
We prefer the latter but often it has happened that the site effects the concept’s direction. Obviously, the space always has a significant influence on the final work.

7. How do you make your set designs?
Once we have established a clear vision for the project, we go through the space in great detail to decide how each room will be used, and how we would like it to look and feel. Then it is a matter of gathering everything from storage and searching the city. The actors participate in the preparation of the raw space – the painting, wallpapering, wiring etc. The details are then added with great precision. We are fanatical about details. Every lighter, handkerchief, deck of cards - every single object in each drawer is chosen as a contribution to the overall illusion. Often we work for a very long time preparing the installation. It requires a lot of effort and attention to make everything as if it has been that way for years - adding that something which makes it slightly, indefinably disturbing.
We depend on found material, good luck and the goodwill and devotion of many people. This makes the work process very unpredictable, which is very inspiring.

8. Where do you find all the objects?
Most of our collection is comprised of things that others have discarded. We are great collectors of human detritus, objects thrown away in the cities. Whenever possible, we scour though containers and flea markets at closing time. We keep everything we find in storage, sorted and filed until it is used.

9. Each of your projects is recorded through either film or photography. Do you see these pieces simply as documentation, or as independent works of art?
As for documentation, we always work from within the fiction. The characters have the camera - or the cameraman is a character. Sometimes we give this role to the spectators. We make videos as well as thousands of still photos. Most of it is created by Erich Goldmann, who is our collaborator and whose method of working with photography have created both our preferred style of documentation, and the potential for our films etc. to stand alone as independent artworks. We have a huge amount of footage from each project. Thus far, it has been mostly used as a kind of documentation, although recording the hyper-complexities of a performance installation is impossible. We are currently developing a series of videos from different projects as independent works, some of which can be found on Vimeo.
Another way of documenting from within is collecting the texts and artifacts characters and audience produce during the performance. The accumulated material of this kind is vast. A small selection can be seen here (link)

10. What are SIGNA rehearsals like?
The rehearsal process varies a lot according to the nature of the project, and what percentage of the performers worked with us previously. The majority of the process is verbal, constructing the characters and the frame stories with as much detail as possible, establishing a set of collective histories and ideas, etc. Also there is a lot of individual research work for the actors. Later there are improvisations. Sometimes we bring our characters into public space. The rest is secret.
Our rehearsals are not open for the public, even to researchers and the press (unless they participate on equal terms with all other actors). It is essential that we create a safe, focused, working environment and a strong group.. Without it, the performance cannot function.

11. Do you have an ensemble?
Not really. SIGNA consists of Signa & Arthur Köstler as the artistic leadership. We cast actors for each project, and many of them have worked with us repeatedly. Usually, more than half of the cast is 'veterans'.

12. How do you find your actors?
Most of our new actors come to us through our network, and many are former audience. We also use casting calls occasionally.

13. Are your actors professionals?
Our performers come from many professional backgrounds - many with acting experience, some with none. Because our way of working is radically different from conventional stage theatre, we are looking for authenticity in the personal interactions, as well as adaptability in the improvisational aspects of the fiction. Therefore, everyone begins from essentially a similar place. The diverse experiences and expertise of the performers contribute to the performance uniquely, which is ideal.

14. What do you require from your performers?
One must be able to attend all scheduled rehearsals, workshops and playing days.
One must be reliable, kind, in good health, emotionally stable, and willing to be part of a group on equal terms with all your colleagues.
We do not choose actors to fill out certain roles, rather we create the characters to fit the actors. Generally we aim for very diverse groups.
In the performances the actors must know the collective stories and the past of the characters in great detail, they must be attentive to the evolving mood of the space, and most of all – they must be able to behave with a perfectly natural ease, no matter how unusual or twisted the turn of events is.

15. How can I work with Signa?
Please send an e-mail to contact@signa.dk for detailed information and an application form. By subscribing to our newsletter, you can stay informed about upcoming projects and castings.

16. What about long duration interests you?
After several days of performing non-stop, the borders between fiction and the so-called reality become negotiable so that analytical questions such as ”What is me and what is the character?” are no longer relevant. Playing non-stop means living the daily life of the character- cooking, eating, washing, working, sleeping... all dependent, of course, on the status of the character. Sometimes, the audience also has the possibility of staying within the fiction for several days on end (and often do), thus putting distance to their own reality. I am always interested to see how these audience members relate to the newly arrived guests, who are just beginning to orient themselves within the fiction; it can create a very layered experience for everyone, for us as well. Very intense relationships are formed between audience and fictitious characters in these extreme durations, and this is an interesting, often enlightening dynamic.

17. Do you consider your work theatre?
Not necessarily. We do not come from a traditional theatre background, and our work is not meant to be a commentary or criticism of conventional theatre. We do, however, use theatrical components in our installations, and often we work in the context of the performance community, which naturally influences the way our work is seen. It is not particularly interesting to us how our work is labeled.

18. What is your opinion on conventional stage theatre?
We do not feel that we should necessarily have a general opinion. However, personally for us, the idea of the fourth wall seems illogical, and does not appeal to us. It seems a shame to have a live audience trapped in their seats in the dark, and ignored by live performers.

19. How do you see theatre/stage art/performance developing in the future?
This is for the theatre scientists and academics to predict, not us.

20. Would you consider doing a performance on stage?
We might consider this on a smaller scale as an experiment, but we have no concrete plans.

21. Your work is intellectually concerned with notions of reality and fiction, as well as identity and relationships. What are the ideas you are looking to communicate through these themes in your projects?
The inhabitants of the installation harbor the fiction's reality as well as their personal reality, and this flicker between the two challenges the spectator's own anchoring in reality. Through the unexpected intimacy and familiarity with the performers of the installation, the visitors' expectations are challenged, a sense of the uncanny develops, and more importantly - they ask themselves: Who am I now, who am I here? What is my role? I see identity as something more than an immutable entity - as something fluid and reactive, which we can define and redefine infinitely. This is also true of reality.
The discussion of fiction versus reality gets a little tiresome in our context since they function as a spectrum in many cases, whether it is art or not.

22. Do you consider your work political?
When beginning a project, it is not our intention to be blatantly didactive or political.
Naturally, our interest and attention to themes of injustice and power manipulation, the simulation of harsh living conditions, and our identification or representation of societal or archetypal ideologies that are problematic and debatable by the public – aligns the work as tangential or related to some political issues. However, this is all dependent on audience reception and interpretation, rather than any propaganda or platform we ascribe to.

23. How do you compare your work to role play?
There are similarities just as with any kind of acting, but the presence of the audience gives it an entirely different purpose. The performances are designed for experiential reasons, not for personal leisure.

24. How do you compare your work to reality tv?
I suppose the durational dimension of shows such as Big Brother and Paradise Island is one similarity, and that every aspect of participants’ lives are visible to the viewer, from sleeping to eating, relationships etc. However, the difference between witnessing something via television versus total sensory immersion creates two distinct experiences.

25. Why do all your performances depict sex and violence?
The most basic answer to this is that sex and violence are activities that drive the human animal, and our relationship to them is both a fascinating question, and a polarizing ethical matter. What interests us is how humankind, gifted with cognitive and verbal intelligences (which animals lack), handles and interprets these primal inclinations in the different contexts we represent. Power has always been exerted through violence and sex, it still is everyday of our lives. So to pursue an examination of power structures without including it would be impossible. It is interesting that this is a question so directly asked of our work, but not so directly of society. I think it is important to distinguish here that the portrayal of violence or abuse of power does not equate to an encouragement, or support of it. We choose to depict brutality in a rather raw and forthcoming way instead of stylizing it, or glossing over it. This is because we do not want to make the unbearable palatable; then it is easy to dismiss. Representing - and for the audience, witnessing pain implies a certain amount of discomfort.

26. Have you felt that there has been a loss of control when performing? How do you assert control during a performance?
Our intention is not to control everything, in the sense that our work creates space for a certain level of unpredictability. We do, however maintain a strong awareness of everything using an in-fiction chain of command and a very clear structure for communication and safety. Without it, the fiction does not have the freedom and element of surprise that we work for. Certainly, there are moments where things take an unexpected turn and moments that have been overwhelming for us.

27. Your work has been criticized for being manipulative, how do you respond to this?
Here, it is important to distinguish what is happening inside the performance and its intentionality from us personally. Our work does investigate mechanisms of manipulation and abuse of power – therefore it can be that the audience feels their boundaries pushed, or that their agency within the fiction is challenged, as is perhaps not the case in most daily situations. This is intentional in order to facilitate reflection about individual and social responsibility, about courage and compassion. I believe the work needs to be ambiguous and problematic in this way, otherwise there is no resulting self or structural analysis. One should never feel too safe, it leads to complacency.

28. How do you feel about allegations that your work with the actors resembles a sect? And why do you think people make these associations?
Because the performances are seemingly real, and often potent, perhaps people project some of the menace or communal aspects of the fiction onto us, which is grossly inaccurate. Firstly, it is an egregious allegation and it is insulting to the integrity of our work, our actors, and us personally. The nature of our performances as hermetically sealed fictions dictates that the public is forbidden from seeing how we rehearse, so any perceived secrecy is in place solely to protect the dignity of the work, and the audience’s authentic experience. Secondly, our address of such heavy subjects requires that we establish a strong foundation of trust between the actors, and a serious, focused working environment.

29. Why is it that Signa & Arthur Köstler always play roles on top of the hierarchy?
Firstly, that is not always the case. Each of us has played low status on many different occasions - as patients, servants, victims … It can also be said that the hierarchies of many shows are debatable, and a matter of perspective.
In the practical sense, especially in larger performance, we do often play roles that give us the opportunity to have mobility, an overview of the space, see how the performance is functioning and give impulses.

30. Do you and the actors often have trouble getting out of character or knowing the difference between fiction and reality?
The differentiation between the fiction and reality is a cornerstone of our work, so it is an important aspect of the process in order for us to be able to play difficult content. Again, this is why our trust building and sense of community is important, so that we all feel sure everyone is able to do this, and has support in it. Getting in and out of character is an individual process, and of course it can take some time to decompress, depending also on one’s character. Each performer handles it differently- some with lots of rest or exercise, some by reaching out socially, and again for some, it is a simple switch. Like any conditional behavior, it is a matter of habit and time.

31. Do you offer your actors psychological counseling or de-briefing after taking part in your performances?
Playing with us requires stable mental health. If we feel that a problem arises in the process, we deal with it directly and openly. It is important to remember that what the audience sees is not real brutality- it is acting, however realistic it appears. The actors are very supportive of each other, and their mutual agreements regarding limits help prevent any misunderstandings or negative feelings. However, should anyone ask for help, we would take it seriously and without judgement. There is also a lot of communication between us during, and after the performances. Speaking about our experience helps very much in processing all that has transpired.

32. Do you have any rules or limits in your performances?
Yes. We have limits in terms of what methods we use with the audience so that everyone is safe, and the rules of interaction between players are dependent on the nature of the show.

33. Are the actors allowed to set their own limits? And how do you make sure that these are respected? Are the actors forced to take part in sexual and/or violent actions?
Every actor is entitled to set his/her own limits and adjust these as often as necessary. We do not prefer actors with very wide limits over more cautious actors. What is most important to us is that our actors do not cross their own limits, or let them be crossed in ways that make them uncomfortable or upset. All of our actors are responsible for knowing the limits of their colleagues at all times. It is a misunderstanding that actors working with SIGNA must be willing to be naked, play sexual scenes, or participate in violence. Many of the projects we have made (but not all) have contained explicit scenes, as well some degree of violence. These scenes are carefully planed and rehearsed with the safety and personal limits of the participants in mind. We absolutely do not require violence or sexual scenes from anyone, but rather it is an individual decision on the part of the actor.

34. How do I know when an actor is in character or not?
They are always in character. No question.

35. What will you do, if you get ill during the performance?
If the actor is ill, so is the character. Only in severe cases, the actor will leave the performance.

36. Did you ever have any accidents or dangerous situations?
Surprisingly few. Safety is important to us, and luck has been with us (7- 9 -13)

37. Did you ever have any problems with the police?
No, we do not break the law.

38. Can you talk about the role of the viewer and their experience in your projects?
The barrier between the spectator and the installation, or audience and performer, is non-existent. The presence of the visitors in the room is as real as the commitment to the fiction around them. The performers relate to the spectators, but on the terms of the fiction. They interpret the presence of the audience and its reactions in accordance with the logic of the constructed history and fictive rules of the world. It is the audience’s responsibility to insinuate themselves into the performance. That is why no two spectators will have the same experience. Stories unfold in different places and over a long period of time - usually several days on end - so it is never possible to see or hear what goes on everywhere all at once. The audience has to move through the space and study the numerous artifacts - letters, photographs, and personal items … they must engage in or witness interactions to pick up as many fragments as possible. Thus, the narrative flow is not chronologically progressive, nor is the experience prescribed to a common end for each person. It is possible to dive into the past of any of the characters, or to participate in their present as it unfolds, perhaps even, to affect their future.

39. What are the reactions of the audience?
Because each person has a singular and individual experience in the fiction, the reactions also vary greatly. We have seen the whole spectrum of reactions - from very reserved to intensely emotional. We never assume or bait for a specific reaction from the audience, rather we try to facilitate a response to all kinds of feedback without the fiction being broken.

40. Has a member of the audience ever “freaked” out and how did you handle the situation?
Yes, there have been instances where audiences have had extreme reactions. We always handle these people within the framework of the fiction. If they are destructive enough that they may jeopardize the safety of the performers or audience, we find a way to get them out and leave them to the outside authorities.

41. What is your message to the audience?
There is no direct message or answer in our work. If it were that clear, the performances would be rather quick! Rather, we prefer to think of it as creating the opportunity and environment for a multitude of questions to be raised, and hopefully to inspire reflection upon them.

42. Is it the intention that the audience should feel bad or confused?
Sometimes, yes - that is the purpose. Reflecting upon difficult issues is not always possible in one’s comfort zone, and the addressing painful things is in itself a painful process, but often an important one.

43. Do you have an “ideal” audience?
We do not have an ”ideal audience” as such. We appreciate having a very diverse audience – very old to very young people from all walks of life, and from very different cultural backgrounds. The more diversity we have among the audience, the more diverse reactions and opportunities exist for playing. Many people have followed our work for years, traveling long distances to see our shows. Our projects allow different levels of participation, from the very active to more observational, and we are aware of that. In some projects the audience is pushed more than others, but coming to our shows one should be ready for a certain level of confrontation. It is simply the nature of the work. In every project, we experience audience who are trying to break the fiction, and even though we have strategies of dealing with behavior of that kind, those visitors are probably the least ideal audience.

44. Is it possible to meet up with the actors after the show to talk about the performance?
We prefer not to meet out of character during the duration of the performance’s run. We make a strong effort not to break the illusion for returning audiences, so that their experience in the fiction is honored and protected as much as possible.
After the last day of playing, we often arrange an audience talk.

45. How is your work funded?
Since 2009, we are supported after annual application by The Danish Art Council, which covers our overhead budget. The individual projects are funded by the producing theatres, or festivals.

46. What is the budget of a production?
Between 100.000 - 300.000 € , depending on the size.

47. How long do you work on a production?
2 - 8 months, depending on the scale.

48. What is your audience capacity?
Our audience capacity depends on the number of performers. We try to keep the ratio of performer to audience reasonable, around 1:3.

49. Where can I read more about the works of SIGNA?
Please follow these links: REVIEWS BIBLIOGRAPHY INTERVIEWS

50. Is it possible to buy a specific, previously shown production?
Usually not, as each show is fitted to the site and the performers. If we were to move it, it would be produced more or less from scratch, and a budget of similar size is still required. Some performances could be repeatable in modified versions, but it is less interesting for us than making something new.

51. Is it possible to acquire more photo and video documentation than what is on the web page?
That can be arranged depending on the content, and if we have a fair amount of notice.

52. Do you allow your sets to be used for photo shoots, filming etc.?
No.