Panama Pictures

Global politics has become a game with ever-higher stakes. International relations are under severe strain; impulsive leaders are driven by an insatiable hunger for power and capital, whilst brandishing threats.

Is there still room for hope in that world?

Panama Pictures seeks the answer to this in *Don’t despair*, a performance in which we scrutinise the behaviour of those in power, highlight the consequences of ‘divide and rule’, but also offer a glimpse of rays of hope through cooperation and a shared sense of destiny.

In *Don’t despair*, the audience is drawn into a breathtaking adventure – high up in the air – that turns every perspective on its head. On an ingenious suspended set – a maze of planks, platforms and ropes – the performers are forced to remain constantly on their toes. One wrong step and everything collapses; one deliberately loosened rope and they fall. In this treacherous environment, which divides and grants power to those who claim it as their own, they are forced to choose: will they pursue their own gain, climbing to the top alone? Or will they strike a pact with the other, forging a peaceful alliance?

Through its unique language of dance and acrobatics – which embraces risk yet never loses sight of humanity – Panama Pictures responds to a changing world. A special role is reserved for singer and multi-instrumentalist iET (Lisa van Viegen-Mokoginta), who, with her warm voice, trumpet and guitar, offers a different perspective on the whole – at times vulnerable and melancholic, at others bold and rousing. Does she reveal the true intentions, comment on the events, or is she, too, manipulating our perception?

Who can we trust as more and more certainties fade away? Panama Pictures tells a physical story of power, chaos and connectedness through poetic imagery and movements that are both spectacular and evocative.