A new humility - “We are food” (Val Plumwood)
How can we view humans differently from a radical ecological perspective? What stories help us better understand the dislocations caused by the climate crisis? It is these questions that underpin PREY, inspired by the work of Australian ecofeminist Val Plumwood (1936-2008). After being attacked by a crocodile, she was one of the first to call for a new humility towards nature by putting humans back in the food chain of hunter and prey. Perhaps our own mortality and vulnerability provide a good starting point for the search for an answer. Perhaps we need to learn to die again to find our place in the whole.
PREY will consist of three solos by three generations of women. Each has its own focus: text/language, song/music and dance/performance. With each solo, the tension between man and landscape, performer and scenography, becomes more intense and intimate. The essence of PREY is finding comfort in the terrifying fact that we too are food, that we too belong to an ecological cycle of life and death.
“With the world premiere of Prey, the Klarafestival finished its edition in style last weekend.”
De Tijd - Koen Van Boxem - 27.03.2023
“In the textile structure that is pulled into the theatre you recognize the hand of Verdonck: the artist who creates situations through objects that make us look at the world with different eyes. He changes the familiar environment into a disenchanted reality that we hardly recognize anymore … In terms of content, this is in line with Plumwood's plea to stop acting as if the world belongs to us.”
Pzazz - Pieter T’Jonck - 05.04.2023
“The interplay of the strong performers, the perfectly timed music and the enchanting sculpture create an aesthetic and meticulously constructed performance, but the sophisticated staging also forms an intriguing contrast with the content of the performance.”
Etcetera - Lieze roels - 07.04.2023
Credits
- Concept | Direction • Kris Verdonck
- Composition • Annelies Van Parys
- Text | Libretto • Kris Verdonck
- Scenography • Kris Verdonck / in collaboration with Karolien Nuyttens
- Dramaturgy • Kristof van Baarle
- Costumes • Sofie Durnez / in collaboration with Karolien Nuyttens
- Light • Luc Schaltin
- Ensemble • Ictus
- Altviolin • Aurélie Entringer
- Percussion • Gerrit Nulens
- Electric Guitar • Tom Paulus
- Flutes • Michael Schmid
- Play • Katelijne Damen
- Vocals • Anna Clare Hauf
- Dance • Mooni Van Tichel
| Location | Dates | Hour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Théâtre Varia (Brussel) www.varia.be Show on map | 25/3/2023 26/3/2023 | 18:00 20:00 | |
| Theater Rotterdam (Rotterdam) +31 10 404 41 11 www.theaterrotterdam.nl Show on map | 31/3/2023 | 20:00 |