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An Engaging Minimalist Stage Experience

A Unique Theatrical Dive into Moby Dick

At Maison Saint-Gervais, Bryan Campbell unveils Submersion Games, a creative reinterpretation inspired by the novel Moby Dick. This performance transforms the classic tale into a sensory journey that is intimate, humorous, and unsettling. Much like the boldness seen in contemporary queer shows of 2025, this piece aims to challenge traditional narrative and physical storytelling conventions.

The staging embraces simplicity, with a tarp representing the ship’s deck and the audience arranged in a bi-frontal setup, enveloping the performers like a living ocean. On this imaginative vessel, Bryan Campbell and Olivier Normand perform under the watchful eyes of spectators, turning them into a sort of human horizon. Without extravagant effects, the piece delivers a deeply immersive experience, mentally and physically, as it explores desires, fears, and fantasies projected onto the whale’s image.

An Artistic Bond Built on Trust

The intricate connection between the two performers is rooted in their shared history. “Olivier and I have known each other since I arrived in Europe in 2009,” Bryan Campbell reveals. This long-standing relationship has enriched their stage work, allowing for daring and innovative explorations.

During a residency in Grenoble, they improvised based on a BDSM-inspired protocol, incorporating codes, safewords, and role reversals. “This practice gave us a framework, safety contours, and zones of freedom,” Campbell explains. This setting allows real-life relationships—friend to friend, choreographer to performer—to converse with the fictional dynamics within the piece: “lover to lover, dominant to submissive, captain to sailor.”

Exploring Power Between Desire and Responsibility

Behind its playful façade, Submersion Games delves into a profound exploration of power dynamics. Campbell also examines his position as a choreographer, considering the responsibility that comes with power, and how to wield it in alignment with personal values.

The piece sketches a concept of power that transcends mere domination to include care, responsibility, and consent. “Assuming power is also a service we provide to a project, to collaborators, to those we care about,” he adds, echoing current themes in contemporary art and cultural events within the LGBTQ+ community.

An Ecological Perspective Through Desire

One striking aspect of the performance lies in its ecological message. The whale, far from being a mere symbol, becomes an object of ambiguous, almost romantic desire. This relationship highlights an ambivalence toward the living world: coexistence of fascination, appropriation, and destruction.

It is within this tension that the piece finds its strength, portraying how attachment to life can coexist with acts of dominance or destruction.

A Contemporary Work of Disturbance and Introspection

With Submersion Games, Bryan Campbell does more than reimagine Moby Dick. He creates a theatrical realm where desire, authority, vulnerability, and ecological awareness intersect. This artistic voyage, filled with instability and intrigue, resonates with contemporary sensibilities.

Performances: Thursday, April 16 at 7 PM, Friday, April 17 at 8:30 PM, and Saturday, April 18 at 7 PM.
For more information and tickets, visit saintgervais.ch

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