blijf / weg

What initially appears to be amusing

Frank Vercruyssen and Tine Embrechts are currently working on a play based on a.o. the short story Plumes de bécasse by the Greek writer Thanassis Valtinos. This novella tells the story of the married couple, Rania and Yanis, in a series of dialogues. She wants a divorce, but he does not. She is quite insufferable, he possibly even more so. The title (stay / away, a ‘love-hate’ poem by Maaike Neuville) perfectly captures the atmosphere of their conversations, which is anything but peaceful!

tg STAN has a preference for authors who perceptively analyse the layers that underlie conventional contact between people. Luk Van den Dries: ‘Their favourite authors reveal the fat that lines the conventional mentality. STAN’s interpretation meticulously touches upon the tinge of greed and intolerance in the decency, indolence or bustling boredom. Nobody escapes their lucid sharpening of the knives. Even kind and likeable souls appear to be not all that reliable. This is clearly not a social analysis (nor is there another, better class), but the smears taken from each and every one of us. STAN’s theatre therefore makes you very much aware of your own lining of fat. Razor-sharp, it makes you more aware of your own attitude. What initially appears to be amusing – STAN’s theatre is often hilarious – suddenly pierces through all your callous layers.’