Nero

History has portrayed Nero as a buffoon, a man who so much wanted to be a
poet, an effeminate coward who could not even bring himself to commit
suicide. A cruel emperor who used Christians as torches and who wanted
his beloved city of Rome to provide a burning backdrop to his songs.
Other sources glorify Nero as a gifted ruler.

In his new play, Peter
Verhelst presents Nero as a young boy. He has written a piece about
Nero’s childhood and directs it himself. Wim Opbrouck acts, plays music
and dances. He is the little Nero, the boy obsessed with the scraps of
music he can hear everywhere. The little boy who in his own city goes
looking for someone who wants to play with him. The boy who sings in the
dark to ward off his fear. The boy who cuts animals open out of
curiosity. Out of love. Always in search of something warm, something
sweet, something soft.

The poet and novelist Peter Verhelst (Tongkat, Zwerm and Zoo van het
denken) is well known for his sensual, physical language. This extreme
tangibility of language is also apparent in his works for theatre, where
the actors almost literally embody his words. Verhelst has been
associated with NTGent for several years now, and his previous pieces
there include Headbangers Wall and the near-monologues Lex (on Alexander
the Great) and Julius Caesar, all of which have been performed in the
Kaaistudios.