Tiresias

These performances are cancelled because the tour has been postponed due to the coronavirus.

In the sound poem Tiresias, British author and spoken word artist Kate Tempest lets identity slip from man to woman to blind visionary. Katelijne Damen embodies the transforming character, and thus asks incisive questions about identity. Tempest situates the theme in the midst of a contemporary urban context in which people are increasingly at risk of losing a sense of themselves. Tiresias is a fifteen-year-old boy who transforms into a woman, and ultimately into a prophet to whom nobody listens. Tempest’s language attests to exceptional playfulness and concreteness. Cassiers juxtaposes the voice of Tiresias with Dmitri Shostakovich’s eighth symphony, performed live by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

• In 2013, Guy Cassiers created the monologue Orlando – based on Virginia Woolf – with Katelijne Damen, which was also staged at Kaaitheater. The 33-year-old Kate Tempest has won numerous awards for her poems and novels and she sells out major venues with her spoken word performances.