Boy

What does it do to someone to grow up without a warm and safe nest? Where is the line of loyalty to the parents? Can you escape your background? Ten-year-old boy Boy is sitting in class when the police come to take him away. He does not know why - only that he cannot go home again because he lives in a 'difficult situation'. What follows is an avalanche of legal, medical and emotional arguments, each having its impact on the boy.

For months, Kyoko Scholiers immersed herself in the world of youth care: she interviewed juvenile judges, foster families, child psychiatrists, educators, adults who look back on their time in care, children and their parents... and worked as a volunteer in a community group. Based on all these experiences, she wrote the fictional play Boy. Joris Blanckaert's soundscape will be sung live by Opera Ballet Flanders' children's choir and the HERMESnsemble.

• Kyoko Scholiers is an actress and theatre maker. Together with Ruth Becquart, she made the installation BRIEF, which won the Dutch Dioraphte Prize. For Misconnected – performed at Kaaitheater during Het TheaterFestival 2020 – she spoke on the phone with people who had lost their connection with society. Boy grew out of this installation of quirky phone booths.