Het wijde land (The Vast Domain)

‘Seducing another man's wife is allowed when in danger of perishing from love for her.’  (from the Kamasutra)

Olympique Dramatique and tg STAN are giving shape to shared theatre dreams. The companies are tackling The Vast Domain, a 1911 tragic-comedy by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler about the consequences of adultery in Vienna at the start of the 20th century. Relevance and acting enjoyment are guaranteed!

We. We don't want fierce love, we don't demand blood, we don't call out for vengeance.
Not any longer.
We are broad-minded, kind-hearted, perfectly informed, clear-sighted and congenial.
We are free, free at last, free at last! Delivered from the yoke of our instincts.
Damn, here comes Lust!
Go away, Lust! Aargh, there's Passion! You lecherous hussy! You troublemaker! Leave us alone!
We've only just managed to get this well-balanced.
We're headed in the right direction.
It's a one-way street, this evolution, so it should be the right direction, don't you think?
We're geared up for all kinds of levity, attuned to everyone's moods.
Yes! We're free. Liberated, guys! And girls. Ahem.
We cherish choices, as submissive as rulers.
And if Lust and Passion should overpower us after all, everyone will understand.
Yep! Everyone.
We're splendid creatures.
(They all laugh. Oh, such elegant mammals!)
A piece for middle-aged lechers with one young boy (who'll hopefully die at the end, the oaf!)

‘I think I have avoided you from a kind of reluctance to meet my double. (…) Your determinism as well as your scepticism—what people call pessimism—your preoccupation with the truths of the unconscious and of the instinctual drives in man, your dissection of the cultural conventions of our society, the dwellings of your thoughts on the polarity of love and death; all this moves me with an uncanny feeling of familiarity. (…) So I have formed the impression that you know through intuition—or rather from detailed self-observation—everything that I have discovered by laborious work on other people.’
(From a letter from Sigmund Freud to Arthur Schnitzler, 1922)

• Tg STAN was founded in 1989 – almost 25 years ago! Their ‘actor-oriented’ and undogmatic approach continues to guarantee fresh and lively theatre and has made them very successful abroad. Olympique Dramatique was born ten years later and, although very different, nevertheless has a great affinity with STAN. The group is a part of the Toneelhuis artistic team.

Matinee Kadee: Sunday 8/12 - 3PM

> for the parents: Het wijde land by Stan + Olympique Dramatique
> workshops for children from 4 to 12 years old
> crèche for younger brothers and sisters between 0 and 4 years old
> advance booking is required; there are a limited number of places available for the workshop; participation is free, provided there is a paid booking for the matinee performance.