Do Animals Cry
'The humour of Do Animals Cry is so refined it would soothe anyone's pain. It is Stuart's most intimate and emotional piece so far. ... A razor-sharp comedy.' (Ballet-Tanz, October 2009)
Cry if you want to: it’s family time now!
Last season, American-Belgian choreographer Meg Stuart presented the alienating and controversial All Together Now, a production about the sense of belonging to a group that in an extreme way erases the boundaries between audience and performer, between private and public. In her new choreography Do Animals Cry, Stuart and her dancers explore the oldest of all groups: that cultural militia called family.
On stage, we see a number of characters in slippers and pyjamas: a family – is it a family? – that calmly becomes disagreeable. They muddle about in various poses: father, mother or child. One of them is called Frank, Frankie-Boy, Frankie-Fucker, Little Shit or Honey. Others have their own set of pet names. Respectable families know how to communicate without anyone noticing. In their games, each defends his or her right to regression, to hidden weaknesses, to sleepwalker’s blindness. In a room full of memories, newcomers visit to exchange dreams and disappointments. No one needs a fixed role: without being asked, each of them glides in and out of family portraits. Cry if you want to: it’s family time now! The house is locked up but open for all, only dogs aren’t allowed in!
‘Do Animals Cry is funny and sad, recognisable and weird.’ – utopiaparkway.wordpress.com
choreography Meg Stuart | created with and performed by Joris Camelin, Alexander Jenkins, Adam Linder, Anja Müller, Kotomi Nishiwaki, Frank Willens | dramaturgy Bart Van den Eynde | music Hahn Rowe | set Doris Dziersk | collaboration set Rita Hausmann | costumes Nina Gundlach | light Jan Maertens | technical direction Britta Mayer | production manager Christine Peterges | stage manager Milos Vujkovic | assistance costumes Noélie Verdier | assistance production Marlène Bunge | apprentice Àfrika Martínez Ferrin | production Damaged Goods | co-production Kaaitheater (Brussels), Théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Volksbühne am Rosa Luxemburg Platz (Berlin), PACT Zollverein (Essen) | supported by the Flemish Government, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), Omnia Leuven
