The 27th edition of TAZ started Wednesday evening in the Kursaal in Oostende. This festival could not have begun more beautifully and more appropriately. When the lights went out, a figure appeared on an immense screen with feet in the surf and the endless sea behind them. Behind that one figure, another was hidden. Specially for TAZ, Jotka Bauwens created together with her mother Veerle De Poortere a tender and moving intergenerational duet on Les Yeux de ma mère by the late Arno, honorary citizen of Oostende. While they were visible on the screen, they danced along live, caught in a spotlight. The audience was subsequently invited to come dance every day on the steps of the Kursaal.
After the obligatory speeches by artistic director Cindy Godefroi and programmer Dominique Collet who explained the theme - Take me across waves and generations – the thread running through the festival. They were inspired by Danny Ronaldo, known from the circus Ronaldo family which spans 7 generations, and Zindzi Tillot Owusu, a young theatre maker, intersectional feminist and writer. Both provide a challenging undercurrent and imprint their poetic stamp on the festival. #TAZ24 described in a few words: surprising theatre in unique places. This pre-programme was concluded with an a cappella duet, two voices blending beautifully in paradisiacal harmony.
'Ne Mobliez Mie' Toneelhuis / FC Bergman
Kursaal, Wednesday 31 July
This production is an extension of a commission that FC Bergman made for the Kasteel van Gaasbeek museum. The former owner, marchioness Arconatie-Visconti, was the source of inspiration. A skillful work by the collective.
In this opening production, actress Marie Vinck shines. A wordless story with narrative ambiguity and an alternating current between good and evil. Built anecdotally full of grand imagination. The film opens with atmospheric images: Marie in a rowing boat hoisted into heavy armour. A dog keeps her company. She peers across the water. Puts on her helmet and tumbles into the water. In the heavy armour she sinks like a stone. The animal scans the water surface. Barks. Searches for its master and eventually jumps in after her.
Soon after, she is a loving, caring mother tucking her child in. She continues to flirt with death and drowns herself in a bathtub. She returns as a hairy monster bending over the child. There is also a spicy parody of Flemish Marian devotion. The public does not come to honour her or seek her protection. It is a coming and going of vulgarities. In the end, someone shoots themselves in the head opposite the madonna. The suicidal runs like a red thread through the film/performance.
The tabloid press gets a sharp rebuke. They follow a diva in her car. Next to her sits a dressed-up dummy that she strokes and kisses. Glitter on the outside but in reality an image of sadness and loneliness. The car goes over. This would refer to the fatal car crash of Lady Di. This illusion too is pierced. When the actress crawls out of the car, it turns out to be a shoot in a film studio.
Lugubrious is when the camera zooms in on an enormous garbage dump and lingers on Marie Vinck's face. Her eyes anxiously follow the enormous grab crane that gets closer and closer.
In between, we see a man who with a large machine cleans the aquarium room of the zoo. He comes home to his shabby little apartment and eats fishsticks. Watches television and takes off his mask... and there is Marie Vinck hidden underneath again.
Meanwhile, behind the projection screen, a wooden cube rotates. Children climb on it. A curious man goes to see what's in it. Nothing. Yet it turns out a woman is trapped in it. First we see a hand appear through a hole. Then two reaching arms. Until she holds a man in her arms, who however tears himself away.
Towards the end, the cube unfolds and evokes images of a spaceship. Folds shut again. The actress appears from a door. She removes the thick belly. Stands in her underwear. Dives in front of the hall. Puts on shoes and a jacket. Looks at the audience: 'What do you want from me?'. Decidedly she leaves the hall. A camera follows her. She walks purposefully. Then begins to run. Until we see her on a tower building with her faithful companion the dog. Here too she jumps into the abyss. As the only sound, the barking of the dog again. There is also beautiful music montaged under the images, including Scarlatti's song 'Dormi, o Fulmine di Guerra'. Striking.
'Thanks for Being Here', Ontroerend Goed
De Grote Post, Thursday 1 Aug.
This was their first creation as house artist in the large theatre of the NTG. Described as an ode to the people without whom there would be no theatre: the spectators. The concept of 'theatre' is firmly stretched. Arty-farty, to stay in the language idiom, I call it and utterly boring. Here too, lots of film material. First you sit for minutes watching images of people walking in and out of De Grote Post. On stage there is a camera. Suddenly the roles are reversed. What a find! The audience doesn't watch the actors on stage, but the actors watch the audience. No expected pattern. Many people feel uncomfortable, bored. What turns out? The audience was already filmed upon arrival. Their actions are commented on somewhat mockingly. The only engaging part was the exchange between the three protagonists. The whole thing is fairly thin and cannot hold the attention. A production with international ambitions. Working language: English. We are already such a small entity: be proud of our language. Many actors and companies move abroad and take the trouble to translate their work into English, French, German… whatever! Keep it in Dutch please so every spectator can follow.
'L'Absolu', Les Choses de rien
Scheepswerf I.D.P., Thursday 1 Aug.
'l'Absolu' is a unique production across the board and was also selected for the Theatre Festival. The audience takes a seat in an immense silo and is arranged spirally from high to low. A poetic image to see all those silhouettes in the dark. What happens is difficult to describe. It hovers between aerial acrobatics, graceful ballet and daring. The performer constantly seeks the boundaries of the possible, the physical limits. With utmost focus and nerves of steel, the performer accomplishes things you can barely imagine possible. It is a marathon and a test of endurance. Alternately performed by Boris Gibé, Piergiorgio Milano and Aimé Rauzier. Top athletes in an awe-inspiring performance. The distinctive soundscape reverberates through your body. You sit on the edge of your seat and watch with trepidation and wonder at what unfolds. Technically, it is all ingenuity. 'l'Absolu' offers images that remain imprinted on your retina. I don't want to reveal more. Go see it.