Cinema Dialogue Kinshasa Brussels

Progress or non-progress

The German director Monika Gintersdorfer and the visual artist Knut Klaßen create exhilaratingly physical and radical performance theatre in which they reflect an unusual view of African reality. In Cinema Dialogue, they critically examine the United Nations’ ostensibly apolitical Millennium Development Goals. They juxtapose the universalism of the UN programme with the local reality of urban development in Kinshasa between 2000 and the present day. With Congolese, German and Ivorian performers, they walk through the city creating photo series that give you a sense of the urban progress or ‘non-progress’ that has been made. During the performance, the performers enter into dialogue with these images with commentary that is sung, spoken and danced. The group of performers – a combination of fantastic actors, spectacular dancers and showbiz stars – is the secret weapon of every Gintersdorfer-Klaßen performance.

• Gintersdorfer-Klaßen have previously been our guests at Kaaitheater with the much-lauded Othello c’est qui (2010), The End of the Western (2012), Desist III (2012), The International Criminal Court (2012) and La Jet Set (2012).