The theater project THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND starts from Bruegel’s Renaissance painting “The Parable of the Blind” as a powerful metaphor for blind faith and (dis)information in today’s age. The painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder – created in a period when society’s feudal structure was being replaced by capitalism – is transposed into the contemporary context of digitalization, simulation and artificial intelligence. There it becomes a warning about the dangers of uncritical acceptance of information and a symbolic critique of the ubiquitous manipulation of truth. Through the prism of the famous biblical parable, which warns of the fate of the “blind leading the blind,” the project opens the question of leadership and trust in a world in which the line between real and false is increasingly blurred.
The play links Bruegel’s Renaissance motif with selected excerpts from Karel Čapek’s play “R.U.R.” and Maurice Maeterlinck’s play “The Blind,” creating a dialogue between the times of the industrial and digital revolutions. Čapek’s visionary work introduced the concept of the robot into the collective imagination, speaking of the uncertain consequences of advanced technology – dilemmas that still haunt us today, economically and morally. At the same time, Maeterlinck’s symbolist drama, translated into Croatian for the first time with the help of artificial intelligence, places its protagonists on an isolated island similar to the one in Bruegel’s painting: the blind confront their own expectations and hopes, yearning for salvation or guidance that is uncertain and vague.
At the heart of the process of the play’s realization is the interaction with artificial intelligence, which, along with the authors and performers, participates in the shaping of the dramaturgy and text. Although such an approach opens up new possibilities for experimentation, it also highlights the question of the representation of algorithms and code on stage – how to depict what we cannot see and which (nonetheless) increasingly defines our world? THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND takes on this challenge and explores the boundaries of theatrical expression in the era of late capitalism when the line between reality and fiction is disintegrating.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND examines current social and political phenomena, inviting the audience to question the power of information and (dis)information, the role of leadership and trust, and the limits of human creativity in the face of technology’s expanding capacities. Through a fusion of Renaissance art, symbolist heritage, modernist vision, and contemporary artificial intelligence, the play seeks ways in which art today can question what we take for granted – and encourage us to opt for a critical view of the world over blind obedience.
