[cancelled] April
In July 1990, the American ambassador April Glaspie met Saddam Hussein in Iraq. A few days later, Iraq invaded Kuwait. A reaction soon followed: in the spring of 1991, a coalition led by the US attacked Iraq. The First Gulf War had begun.
What did April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein say to one another precisely? Why did we never hear anything from her again? What role did CNN play in the perception of the conflict? And did that war irrevocably disrupt relations with the Arab world?
Willem de Wolf, theatre actor and core member of de KOE, wrote April based on the knowledge of everything that has happened since. He explicitly seeks to cast a spotlight on the female and Arab perspectives of the white and western grandiloquence. Guy Cassiers has used footage from thirty years ago to make a reconstruction of the media’s sources at the time. It is up to you to put all the puzzle pieces together and draw your own conclusions.
regie Guy Cassiers | tekst Willem de Wolf | met Katelijne Damen, Eelco Smits, Sabri Saad El Hamus | productie Toneelhuis | coproductie de KOE | met de steun van de Tax Shelter van de Belgische federale overheid, Casa Kafka Pictures
