The play of the child-god

Valentina Esposito’s Destinazione non umana. A reading of the drama through the philosophical theories of Heraclitus, Nietzsche, and Schiller

Abstract

Like a red thread, the theme of play runs through the performance Destinazione non umana, crossing paths with different philosophical theories and perspectives. The earliest reflection on play dates back to Heraclitus, according to whom “life is a child playing, moving the pieces on the gameboard – regiment of a child”. Nietzsche takes up the metaphor of παῖς παίζων to describe the artist’s work: in a world devoid of morality, the artist creates and destroys by obeying an inner necessity. Nina represents both the child of Heraclitus and that of Nietzsche – the god of the cosmos, who moves the pieces on the gameboard, and the artist-god, who weaves the threads of narration and creates the tragic tale of the performance. Playing at imagining life allows one to take on a new identity and create new possibilities. Tortured in the real world by a god who moves everything by chance and luck, through the dream of theater, the fragile toy horses have become players, actors, artists.