Endless Medication tells the story of Rosa, a girl who cannot weep. She is made pregnant by the JesusChristMachine and is soon to give birth – through her intestines – to God’s grandson. God appears in the form of a talking bulb and the pregnancy takes on the form of a watermelon growing under Rosa’s skirt. Because the child is developing in Rosa’s intestines it encumbers her metabolism: the watermelon must be cut/aborted. With God’s help Rosa finally gives birth (from her leg) to a little boy who never cries. The story ends with Rosa’s incarceration in a madhouse, an infanticide, and a trial in which Rosa is condemned to endless medication.
The performance is realised in the basic inventive style of fairground theatre. Marijs Boulogne treats the tricks of theatre in a childlike, lucid, but also perverse manner. A scatologic potence is hidden behind the apparent innocence of these two energetic, jolly, carefree girls. As a result of its subject – the conception and birth of the grandson of God, as well as the unforced, self-evident way in which they handle obscenity and violence, engenders a form of religiously-tinted pornography.
Endless Medication is a theatre performance created in 2003 by the Flemish performance artist Marijs Boulogne. After successful and noticed presentation at the City of Women festival in 2005, the association decided to adapt the performance into Slovenian. Premiere took place on 14 May 2006 at Club Channel Zero at Metelkova City. At the Syndicate 2019 Eternal Medication will see its 30th run after a six year-long break.
Marijs Boulogne (1978) is a theatre maker, playwright and performance artist. She graduated as a theatre director in 2002 at the RITS School of Arts (Brussels) and studied an additional year in open workshop, new media, installation, and interdisciplinary work. She began directing her own plays in 1999 and received several prizes for her productions. Her plays have been translated into seven languages and have been performed in many countries under her own direction. She wrote and directed Voulez-vous poeper avec moi, Herzschmerz, Picknick!, Excavations, The Anatomy Lesson, Marzipan or Plexi and co-wrote Love Zero Control, Good Habits and Endless Medication with Manah Depauw.
Recurring themes in her work are sexuality, comedy and female strategies of liberation throughout the ages. She performs as singer, accordionist, storyteller and presenter. Since 2011, she is also presenting, coordinating and organising Lucha Libre wrestling events of the 'Spelers van de Ring' and Brussels Young Wrestling Style. Since a few years she also started wrestling herself as Peggy, trained by Pietro Badiali (Lady-Man-Catch Club), Belgium.
Performance deals with Christian phantasms on immaculate conception, crossed between mystic and psychosis.
Mojca Kumerdej
– Delo
The viewpoints of plot shift rapidly.
Conceptually strong and humorous performance that leaves a human mess behind – sticky watermelon juice, trash, excrement.
Iva Kosmos
– Radio Študent
The concept of the performance is based on a lucid selection of signs and drastic play with their naturalistic effects.
Petra Pogorevc
– Dnevnik Newspaper
Slovene adaptation of performance Endless Medication
Original performance directed by: Marijs Boulogne
Text: Marijs Boulogne and Manah Depauw
Adaptation and direction of Slovenian version: Marijs Boulogne and Simona Semenič
Translation: Tanja Lesničar Pučko
Dramaturgy: Jerneja Kušar
Performers: Barbara Krajnc Avdić and Jelena Rusjan
Lighting designer: Janko Oven
Costumes: Nina Holc
Accordion mentor: Maja Vujanović
Production: City of Women Association, 2006
Initiative to restore the performance and organised by: Emanat as part of Syndicate of Outlandish Entities
In collaboration with: Club Gromka
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of RS, Municipality of Ljubljana – Department for Culture and Flanders Department of Culture, Youth and Media