The Earth Is Flat is fiction pretending to be a nature documentary. The director overturns scientific findings and basic knowledge about the world. What if the Earth is shaped like a frisbee? If gravity is only a theory? If climate change does not exist? If refugees will eat our children? German director Julian Hetzel looks at the populist narratives and perception of reality in the polarised societies of Europe. He takes us on a multidisciplinary trip through landscapes that move, rotate and vanish. A group of primitive monkeys, a nationalist choir, a cannibal tribe, a scientific team – all of them are fighting for their identity and their view of the cosmos.

Julian Hetzel’s plays intersect music, theatre and new media. They are political and socially engaged and documentary in form. He is the artistic director of the Julian Hetzel Studio in Utrecht, Holland – an organisation that produces his work. His plays have been presented in over twenty countries around the world, including as part of the official selection for the Nederlands Theatrefestival in Holland, Prague Quadrennial in Czechia, and the Venice Biennale del Teatro in Italy.

During the performance, images generated using artificial intelligence tools are used.

The script was created with the participation of the actors and the production team of the performance.