The Contract is a newly commissioned performance by artist Hanne Lippard that deals with definitions, repetition and the question of responsibility. It uses the recognisable formal language found in legal contracts between institutions and artists involved in artistic productions to create a live choral score. The different actors and elements involved in such an agreement, namely ‘The Artist’, ‘The Curator’ or ‘The Work’, become a group of anonymous characters who play out the absurd storyline which is entwined in the otherwise formal legal language. The repetition of these so-called ‘highlighted’ words creates a chorus that loses its specificity and logic in the resonance of repetition, and personal anecdotes and experiences from the artist’s life seep into the anonymity of the text. The final words of the script, ‘The person responsible’, were initially intended to be the title of the piece.