A stage production about what it means to be different.
My name is Cynthia Gonzalez and I am the artistic director and main character of my newest production ¡! Windspeed F400, which is a theater production whose main focus revolves around a fictional character with autism who has special talents. The goal is to describe a person, his character and his patterns of behavior. I am interested in how an autistic person perceives the world. Autistic people think, react, move and behave differently from neuro-typical people. I would like to explore this unusual manner of perception artistically by exploring how specific modes of thought, speech, movement, behavior and perceptions can be artistically transferred to the stage so that the audience can understand them. On the one hand, I would like to stage the «inner world» of the character, the order which the character creates and harmonizes with, but which is also complex and contradictory. On the other hand, the «outside world», ie, the world as it appears, or the space in which the autistic person meets other people and how he interacts with them and the difficulties that arise when that happens. Furthermore, I would like to show autism as a positive «alternative way of being» with it’s benefits, gifts and it’s joys and not only hardships but also show that this character has feelings, emotions, hopes, desires, dreams and wishes that every person can relate too and wants to be heard, understood and accepted.
We create it, we make it, we invent it, we perform it!
Special about this production is it’s interdisciplinary form with a team coming from dance, theater, music, scenography and light design and the fact that everything we create we do on our own. The set design comes to life during the performance and is «alive» and constantly changing in contrast to a set that is static and does not change. We create the little objects and materials with our own hands and perform and write the text ourselves and speak in different languages. Furthermore, it is a piece that targets/addresses all the «differences» inside all of us and aims for more acceptance and tolerance in the society we live in . I myself believe - and therefore also would like to encourage my audience to think about - that being different can affect everyone. Every step out of one’s own home is a step into society, into the public sphere. And in this space, all human beings are inevitably subjected to rules, expectations, and codes of conduct with which they are confronted for better or for worse. I can imagine that some people might recognize themselves in autistic behavioral patterns and therefore find this topic significant and relevant. Furthermore, this production will stimulate viewers to think about whether this piece tells them something about themselves and to what extent certain, embedded patterns influence one’s own life and show what «being different» can mean.
Funding for tour in Luzern, Aarau and St. Gallen
We need your help to make the tour of this production possible which will happen in 3 German speaking Cantons of Switzerland (Aarau, Luzern and St. Gallen) for the necessary tour wages, transportation costs, rent for equipment (Video, Sound, Lighting Equipment), cost for storage facilites for the set-design, accomodation costs for performers, musician, set-designers and light designer in each city where the guest performances will take place and funding to pay the wages for technical help and support in each theater. It is our biggest wish to be able to go on tour with this exceptional production without worries and a tight budget. Your contribution can help us. «Let us embrace the differences in us all and help us to make this dream complete for all people to see that live in these German speaking Cantons». Cynthia Gonzalez Director
