Who can survive the Rat King?

Forced to face the reality of working together or tearing each other apart, Rat King is an exploration of human physiology, desire, and behavior when individuals become a group enmeshed with one another. 

Through movement, sound and personal reflection–inspired by the image of the rat king–we explore the limits of individualism and the culture of greed and fear, examining how the impact of generational trauma determines the state of the collective. What makes us different? How are we the same? And can we survive when we are tethered to eachother?

This rare phenomenon occurs when rats’ tails get tangled into one big knot forming a “rat king”. As the rats pull away in anxiety and fear, they become more entangled, and the knot becomes tighter and tighter, making it impossible for the rats to escape. Eventually, the rats die or eat each other because of their inability to work together to solve the common issue. 

Rat King searches for collective solutions to the problems we face today asking, can we truly break our habits, work together and change the future?