Krystian Lupa's 'Imagine' Explores Utopia's Failure at Modena's Teatro Storchi

Polish director Krystian Lupa, aged 79, staged 'Imagine' at Teatro Storchi in Modena, a five-hour, two-act performance inspired by John Lennon's song. The play centers on Antonin Artaud, living in a cluttered room with the phrase 'Lennon never dies' on the wall. It blends live action, video, and improvisation to examine the atrophy of late 20th-century utopian ideals, referencing figures like Janis Joplin and Susan Sontag. The first act includes projections from Tarkovsky's 'Stalker'; the second features a desolate industrial landscape. Lupa, a former hippie, uses the performance to question whether art can actively transform reality, echoing Artaud's 'lucid madness.' The show incorporates nudity, ritualistic actions, and references to the Vietnam War and the war in Ukraine.