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NOBLE SAVAGE deconstructs the processes of othering by creating a black stage where whiteness is the ‘other’.
The term noble savage dates back to the 17th century – yet the dominant media image of blackness as an exotic and fascinating yet also potentially threatening and untamed otherness is still alive and well.
The dramaturgical frame of the performance is one of the most known white savior – narratives of our times, the story of Pocahontas. She was a young princess is kidnapped and taken to Europe, but her story has been popularized, with the lucrative Disney version from 1995 as the best known – widely criticized for its historical inaccuracy and for presenting offensive and damaging stereotypes of Native Americans.
A further metalayer is formed by a roleplay of representations. Who is allowed to play whom, and how? Who is allowed to tell whose story? Who is the hero and who is the villain?
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