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