Frontiða
Frontiða is a one-to-one performance that begins outside the theatre and moves towards its centre. It unfolds through a sequence of simple encounters: a cup of tea, a question, a silence, a breath taken without rush. The work creates a temporary space for shared presence, attention and gentleness. Its title comes from the Greek word frontida, meaning care
One-to-one performance · 5 h
ArtEZ · 17 June 2025
© Kristi-Leigh Gresse
© Mike Witjes
© Mike Witjes
© Mike Witjes
Frontiða approaches empathy as a practice of active listening: an encounter in which attention is offered without the need to judge, advise or resolve. Care is understood here not as a fixed gesture, but as the possibility of making space for another person.
The work draws on one-to-one and participatory performance practices by Ernesto Pujol, Adrian Howells, Brian Lobel, Lorna Lee, Franko B and Bobby Baker. Their approaches to listening, questions, intimacy, persona and audience participation shaped the development of the work’s structure and its shifting relation between audience, performer and stage.
Frontiða explores how a theatrical encounter can hold attention, uncertainty and mutual presence without asking for a particular outcome
Performing invigilator: Chetna Mehrotra
Supported by Steef Kersbergen and Maria Pisiou