Paradise Lost. In Africa and in Europe, with Brett Bailey, the Mesmerizer, in Charge
Paradise Lost. In Africa and in Europe, with Brett Bailey, the Mesmerizer, in Charge

Summary/Abstract: Kalina Stefanova’s article aims at introducing the extraordinary talent of South African director Brett Bailey. For over a decade his shows have been visiting Europe to a high critical acclaim. However, they used to be associated with unique, yet predominantly exotic renderings of distant for us topics. During the last several years the situation changed: his Exhibit series – a unique art-and-politics event that has been stunning and disconcerting European audiences – catapulted Bailey into the rank of the top world directors. Stefanova recreates the overwhelming impact of the second installment of the Series Exhibit B. Then she places the show at the background of Bailey’s whole oeuvre by presenting a firsthand account of his artistic development, from his first show Zombie in Cape Town (1997) until now, via his experience living in a hut of a South African healer and learning to practice the traditional African healing methods, his applying the ritual trance as a form of actors’ training and his getting more and more involved with overtly political theatre.

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