Reality Bang is the newest instalment in our Turn Turtle Turn series, which centres on the themes of the Anthropocene. Following the premiere of the series’ first part at the Munich Biennale in 2024, Reality Bang continues this critical exploration by weaving music, text, and movement into a sharp, minimalist performance that reflects on the “big bang of reality” – the moment society begins to truly feel the consequences of human-made climate change. The performance dives into this very moment, a highly charged here and now.
But how did we get here? Why is our response to the climate crisis so often marked by deeper cynicism and continued exploitation?
Guiding the audience through a multifaceted and often disorienting performative journey from despair to hope, we delve into the possibility of dissolving and re-interpreting the Anthropocene worldview – a framework so deeply rooted in the human perspective, that at this point of society, only scientists and artists dare to envision departing from it. In Reality Bang, we employ what’s often called an “Oblivia-style“ signature blend of humour and intricacy that comes to life through a carefully orchestrated interplay of music, voice, movement, stage action, costume, and lighting design. The result is a layered narrative where the distant past confronts the critical present and wrestles toward an uncertain future while chanting “here, now”.
This latest production also marks our continuation of the fruitful collaboration with Yiran Zhao, the multiple award-winning composer who has worked with Oblivia since 2020. Together, we expand the language of contemporary music theatre, once again bringing the profound questions of human existence to the stage – rendered with lightness, wit, and conceptual precision.
CREDITS
Performers: Timo Fredriksson, Anna-Maija Terävä, Annika Tudeer, Juha Valkeapää, Nagisa Shibata (percussions), Yiran Zhao (electronic live music)
Concept, direction, dramaturgy, texts: Oblivia
Composer: Yiran Zhao
Light design, projections: Meri Ekola
Costume design: Tua Helve
Graphic design: Jenni Salminen (Röd)
Communications: Essi Brunberg & Nassrah-Alexia Denif
Production manager: Jenny Nordlund
Co-producer: ARGEkultur Salzburg
Supported by: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Svenska kulturfonden, City of Helsinki, Konstsamfundet, Stiftelsen Tre Smeder, KulttuuriEspoo
Residency: Musiktheatertage Wien
Premiere | 20 June 2025, ARGEkultur Salzburg & Sommerszene Performing Arts Festival
PRESS QUOTES & AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
“In a series of rhythmic scenes with dance and chanting, Oblivia builds its minimalism into a remarkably rich performance. With a few pithy phrases, they say just enough to evoke a strong sense of recognition of the state of the world.”
– Svenska Yle, Lasse Garoff
“Reality Bang is a rhythmic reckoning with our times.”
– HBL, Otto Ekman
“The music, composed by Yiran Zhao and performed on stage by Zhao and percussionist Nagisa Shibata, is a skilfully composed whole that moves between minimalist soundscapes and rich synth worlds. The music also plays a major role in the largely non-verbal performance, where movement and emotions dominate. It is also in the wordless scenes, when the ensemble’s dance and guttural sounds are in focus, that the performance is most effective. It becomes a kind of therapy, a way of processing the frustration and anxiety that comes with the state of the world. (…)
Despite its sombre tone, Reality Bang is also full of hope, especially in the final scene, which for me is the most powerful. The actors beat their chests in time with the heart-pounding rhythm of the music and chant ‘here now here now’. It is a call to action, a fundamental mantra, directed both at themselves and at us in the audience.”
– Ny tid, Hilda Forss
“Oblivia’s Reality Bang intrigues and challenges the viewer to ponder what it is ultimately about. The questions addressed in Reality Bang are unsettling, but the way they are dealt with, through surprising twists and turns, also contains elements of comedy. This suggests that no one in the ensemble takes themselves too seriously, even though they are dealing with fundamental questions.”
– Voima, Tuomas Rantanen
“I can’t think of a more delightful work of art than than Reality Bang. (…) The performance is funny. Lighthearted. Yet it strikes a nerve that mourns and hates unnecessary loss, mass extinction, and stupidity. I can’t think of another group that could do that.”
– Audience comment
“It was really powerful and the music was CRAZY GOOD!!!!”
– Audience comment
