Talk

Talk, a work by the artist and theatre-maker Kris Verdonck, is both an installation and a theatrical lecture. We see in the background on stage two plasterers at work on a wall; they perform the task as functionally as possible. In the foreground, unrecognisable in the darkness, an actor tells a story. He too wishes to perform his task as functionally as possible: to speak his lines, no frills. To banish anything that distracts. Which is why he wants to remain anonymous. He tells us how Rwanda is functioning these days: like a horrific nightmare, complying with an extreme cast-iron logic. A society like those Kafka and Orwell described: a society full of concealment, lies, facades and betrayal, so as not to feel the terrible pain inside. The actor stays calm: clearly, to the point and as ‘objectively’ as possible, he sets out the business plan this society wishes to fulfil. And we just sit and watch. We ‘know’ what happened and what is still happening. We know it, but we cannot imagine it.