A theatrical exploration of melancholy, a search for connection and consolation, a confrontation with transience
Throughout history, melancholy has carried many meanings. In the Middle Ages, it was associated with the four humours of the body. Later, it evolved into an aesthetic ideal in art and literature. What was once seen as a temperament or a source of creativity often concealed another reality: the suffering of those labelled as melancholic remained invisible or was condemned.
PLEASE, Open the Curtains approaches melancholy not as an illness or a romanticized image, but as a remembrance of fragility and collective experience, and the desire that something that reconnects us might emerge after devastation. Six performers embrace melancholy through collective scenes in which play, labour, and ritual coexist; at times light and playful, at others slow and contemplative. Together, they form an ensemble in which images and subtle gestures circulate between them.
In this performance, inspired by Delia Derbyshire’s The Dreams and Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, melancholy is not presented as a weakness, but as a search for connection and solace. It is a confrontation with instability and transience, a plea for beauty and hope.
Credits
Concept & Direction Ferenc Balcaen
Performers Ellen Sterckx, Pepijn Vandelanotte, Meron Verbelen, Marie-Christine Verheyen, Ferre Vuye
Dramaturgy Marie Peeters
Lighting Design Dennis Diels
Set Design Lars Uten
Costume Design Lynn Vanhoydonck
Music Design Rint Mennes, Mees Vervuurt
Acting Coach Mesut Arslan
Dance Coach Georgina Theunissen