It started with lights flickering and it gave me the thought that they were having technical difficulties but in fact that was part of the story. Lights led to movements which led to words, French words English words and Japanese words too! The characters were needing to figure out everything in their universe from the beginning and communication was the first thing on the list ! I don't know what else to say except that it was spectacular and made me think about things I have never thought of before. The storyline, the abstract feel of it all. It was truly a wonderful experience.

When Antoine Defoort & Halory Goerger's GERMINAL was described to me, the first thing that came to mind was the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, which explores, "How our planet would respond without the relentless pressure of human presence." I imagined our four newly conscious humans perplexedly making their way through the detritus of our once brilliant civilization. I think I may need take a break from reading dystopian fiction...

Receiving encrypted information of a societal reset, discovering language like deciphering ancient paintings of spaceships on rocks carbon-dated to over a million years old. Pulling tools out of the ground which eventually is revealed for what it is: a swamp of indifference inhabited by simple single-cell entities that will eventually leave the swamp and grow legs and arms to masturbate and fight with each other.

As GERMINAL began last night, the woman behind me alarmingly whispered to her date, “What is that man doing?!”

I wasn’t sure which man she was referring to - the one crumpled in a lump on the side of the stage or the one distractedly directing a psychedelic light with an oversized remote control. Eventually, all four performers stood up and began to silently communicate via text messages projected on a large wall. Texting? Yeah, we do that too. The nervous audience laughter slowly melted away.