Who lies and who doesn’t? What do different people do throughout the day? And who identifies himself or herself as homosexual? These are questions that may be asked at the opening performance of George Town Festival 2015, 100% Penang, which promises to be a visually compelling and entertaining breakdown of the society we live in.
Described on the festival website as “a uniquely interactive performance featuring 100 local inhabitants, chosen according to their age, gender, household type, geography and ethnicity to represent one per cent of the population,” 100% Penang is an intelligent way of representing who we are. It brings to life pie charts and Venn diagrams, so to speak. And it is not only about statistics – it is much, much more than that.
Penang Monthly speaks to Stefan Kaegi, one-third of the Berlin-based theatrical troupe Rimini Protokoll that is bringing this show to life, about the aim of the performance and the importance of putting faces – some of which we might actually know – to statistics.
