Requiem for the Impossible

Requiem for the Impossible (currently in development) is an interactive musical performance about ambiguous loss - the most devastating loss, one that leaves those who are left behind “frozen in place”.  The story centres on the experience of one family, after the disappearance of three South African sailors in the impossible vastness of the Indian Ocean.

Suspended between grief and hope, family members inhabit a world filled with dreamscapes, premonitions, hauntings and the unseen. The sailors were never found. Requiem for the Impossible presents the deeply human feeling of ambiguous loss through a live performance that blends poetry, music and interactive storytelling.  

Psychologists call the emotional purgatory of not knowing whether a loved one is dead ambiguous loss.

Musicians Lucy Kruger and Liú Mottes will perform their requiem to a live audience at select venues in 2024. The musical score is based on the poetry and lyrics of Jay Savage integrating resonant sound clips of the words recorded by missing skipper (and Jay’s brother) Anthony Murray while at sea.  

The audiovisual and interactive component of the performance is designed by interactive artist Klasien van de Zandschulp and Luciano Pinna and invites audiences to participate in co-creating the experience. This interaction will include on-stage visuals and audio fragments triggered through the mobile phones of the audience during the live show.  

Requiem for the Impossible
opens a gentle space for collective grieving and ultimately hope. 

Requiem for the Impossible speaks to those remaining in the wake of significant public tragedies, such as the disappearance of flight MH370 and hidden ones, like the disappearance of thousands of people crossing the Mediterranean sea. The performance embodies the echoes, whispers, shreds of memory and fragments of spirit and dreams that keep those who have been lost.

Announcements of the show venues will take place in mid 2024 via affect lab’s Instagram account (@affect_lab). 

Credits

Requiem for the Impossible was initiated by writer Diane Coetzer and is produced by affect lab.
Lyrics & poetry: Jay Savage 
Musical score: Lucy Kruger and Liú Mottes
Technical Producer: Blaise Janichon
Interactive Design: Klasien van de Zandschulp (affect lab) & Luciano Pinna
Supported by AFK and Creative Industries Fund NL.