On a beach near Calais a young refugee prepares himself to swim across the Channel, towards his new future. On the English side, on the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head, a woman bids life goodbye.
The new text by author Gaea Schoeters is mirrored by recently recovered Shakespeare-text, in which the sheriff of London tries to calm a mob of citizens who want to lynch a group of migrants. The scene shows scary resemblances to the current refugee crisis. Migration is a phenomenon of all times, and so is our primary reaction to it. Each organism repels what is foreign to it: the strangers have to go.
Composer Annelies Van Parys uses the Shakespeare-text as a libretto for a cycle of songs, which set the refugee theme in a historical perspective. The soprano is also the intermediary between past and present, audience and play. Via other spoken Shakespeare fragments she sets the story in a different perspective, turning the personal stories into a sharp reflection of society, both in the 16th century and today – because the similarities are, alas, striking.
Credits
- Text • Gaea Schoeters
- Composition • Annelies Van Parys
- Direction • Gable Roelofsen / Romy Roelofsen
- Actors • Katelijne Verbeke / Adams Mensah
- Vocalist • Naomi Beeldens
- Lute • Maarten Vandenbemden
- Scenography • Anneleen De Causmaecker
- Lighting design • Peter Quasters
Location | Dates | Hour | |
---|---|---|---|
Rataplan (Borgerhout) +32 3 235 04 90 www.rataplanvzw.be | 18/2/2017 19/2/2017 | 15:00 20:00 | |
deSingel Antwerpen (Antwerpen) +32 3 248 28 28 www.desingel.be | 29/4/2017 | 17:00 | |
O. (Rotterdam) + 31 1 436 60 70 https://o-festival.nl/ | 13/5/2017 13/5/2017 | 15:00 19:00 |