Spoken Karaoke is a participatory event that invites people to perform speeches as they would ordinarily perform songs in a karaoke bar.
Speeches are, after all, songs of persuasion, argument, consolidation or motivation.
Dozens of texts are loaded into the karaoke system and arranged in a catalogue that audience members can peruse. The source texts may be drawn from various forms of public address: political speeches, theatrical monologues, philosophical or scientific lectures, eulogies, etc. Spoken Karaoke allows us to play with this legacy of spoken artifacts, treating snippets and snatches of public address like a Top 40 radio of the collective discourse.
Sound design: Vladimir Kudryatsev. Assistance: Lola Harney. Co-produced by steirischer herbst (Graz, AT) and Black Box Teater (Oslo, NO).