HÄXAN

HÄXAN is ÉSKATON’s third production, following Cicuta contagiosa and Ejercicios militares para confundir éxtasis con agonía. Founded as an artistic collective in 2021 by Marinov and Miguel Deblas, ÉSKATON’s creations, according to its members, aim to become the material result of a critical study of the history of art, philosophy, and religion. They seek to take situations on stage to the extreme, suspending the meanings preconfigured by the spectator through their treatment of symbols and icons.

HÄXAN is the result of the critical exploration that led them to the silent film of the same name, released in 1922 by the Danish director Benjamin Christensen, which addresses the phenomenon of witchcraft during the inquisitorial period and which played a role in the emergence of the mockumentary. The film draws a parallel between the witch hunts and the impact of modern psychology on women’s bodies in the 20th century, using the figure of the hysteric.

Based on this premise, the Madrid-based group’s stage project, produced by Réplika Teatro – Centro Internacional de Creación, interrogates the bodies that today continue to be traversed by the same mechanisms of power as in the 15th century. For their stage work, which moves between theatre, choreography, and performance, they draw on elements from cinema as the foundation of their creation: the formal blurring between documentary, fiction, and history; the social unrest provoked by disturbing, violent, and cruel images; and the use of pioneering special effects to reflect the supernatural and the magical.