A Study of Losses

Kingdoms fall, buildings turn into ruins, cultural artefacts are destroyed, animals become extinct. Most losses are unknown to us, precisely because they are lost. We look at what we believe to be history, but in reality it is a series of temporary preservations in a vast sea of losses.

Through circus, contemporary magic and object manipulation, Kompani Giraff creates its own universe in A Study of Losses, playfully exploring the magnetic pull of what has been lost. Four circus performers and a collection of forgotten everyday objects awaken in an atmospheric landscape where even objects carry memories, dreams and phantom pain.

The music, specially composed through a close collaboration between Kompani Giraff and the American artist Beirut, plays a vital role in the storytelling. Beirut, or Zach Condon, has composed 18 songs for the performance. The poetic lyrics convey the dizzying existential experiences embedded in the theme of the piece. We are confronted with a burning question: What have I lost, and what am I afraid of losing?

A Study of Losses is a free interpretation of the novel Verzeichnis einiger Verluste by German author Judith Schalansky – a book that, through magical realism, portrays life and history as a sequence of losses and disappearances.

From 14 years