Fašenk!

It is a disconnection from reality in order to enter a different time and space, where homo ludens (the man who plays) is the only and necessary paradigm. Something similar happens in eastern Slovenia during Lent. In Markovci, where I was born and raised, people stop their everyday life for a week and celebrate “Fašenk”. This is the period when the social valve opens with violent force, people change into masks, the boundaries of the legitimate disappear, anarchy, euphoria and cruelty come to the fore. At this time, it seems that virtually anything is possible. The most famous and popular mask is the Korant, which heralds the end of winter and the beginning of spring by jumping. Its origins are not clear, but similar wild men are appearing all over Europe. It is known that the colder climate, rural life and especially forested Europe from the fourth century onwards influenced the imagination of the people of that time. A wild man and rarely a wild woman is mentioned as a creature with unimaginable power, usually naked, hairy and solitary, coming from a dark forest. Today, the natural and political picture of Europe is quite different, the savage man being tamed in a carnival set by Christianity before Ash Wednesday. The limited number of days of anarchy also suited the ruling class, as it was able to exercise control over the people during the “non-Fašenk” period. The role of the Korant today is primarily ethnographic, it has acquired a national identity and became part of popular culture. If you come from Markovci, these stickers do not mean much, because through the layers you can still feel the devotion, sincerity and freedom of the people who live a new life every year. Spring begins to come and the ground begins to shake. In the play, Kukovec preserves Korant in the local environment and also move it to a different performative situation – on stage. The stage as a space of emotion will allow the Korant to go mad to the end, to be exposed, to confess, to die, and to be born again. Through it we will tell the story of playfulness, madness and the human drive to become someone / something else.