De brievenschrijver/Letter home

A man flees a war on foot

During the First World War, the theatre-maker Simon Allemeersch’s great grandfather deserted. He fled on foot to the Netherlands, where he was imprisoned for four years in the military camp at Zeist. While there, he trained as an engineer and earned his keep as a letter-writer for fellow prisoners, who thanks to him were able to keep in contact with their family and loved ones on the home front.

Simon Allemeersch attempts to reconstruct his story together with a group of actors, makers and musicians from the Globe Aroma circles. To this day, this personal history continues to tell a universal tale: a man flees a war on foot, survives in a refugee camp and waits there for the war’s uncertain end.

Simon’s great grandfather died some time ago, but the old military camp is still there, and has now been turned into an asylum centre that is bursting with stories just like his. Allemeersch and Globe Aroma are filming a short documentary here, weaving these contemporary tales into a visual performance around the letter-writer and his imagination.

• Simon Allemeersch (1980) studied Germanic Languages at KU Leuven and went on to take a course in directing at the Rits in Brussels. With his celebrated performance RABOT 4-358 about the Rabot tower blocks in Ghent, and the documentary performance Tweekerkenstraat 81 Rue des deux églises as part of Tok Toc Knock, he has already proved his skill at colouring outside established theatrical lines, and at working with new forms and new actors.

#newyoung