Vake poes

Director and theatre maker Lisaboa Houbrechts writes and stages a family epic that spans three generations, using Bach's St John Passion as a guideline. She takes a retrospective look at the world of her grandparents, her parents and of her own generation. She explores how the small is intertwined with the large, the intimate with the political, and the past with the present. At the centre is a twelve-year-old girl who has come to the end of a long history and delves into the hidden traumas of the past.

Houbrechts develops the story into a grand narrative between theatre and opera by adapting the form of a trilogy. The first part, Vake Poes; of hoe God verdween, tells the story of a family breakdown in which Vake Poes and his son sacrifice their faith and nail Jesus to the Cross. This to the despair of Moeke Poes who wants to keep her family pious and pure in a 1960s world that is becoming more and more secular. Text and music are intensely interwoven with each other. Players, singers and musicians of all ages come together and fragments from J.S. Bach's St. John Passion play a dramatically surprising role.

• Lisaboa Houbrechts is a writer and director and creates work at the intersection of visual art, opera and text theatre. She has already performed Hamlet at Kaaitheater together with Kuiperskaai - a collective of young Brussels makers. She recently became one of Toneelhuis' regular creators.

‘Vake Poes; of hoe God verdween’ is a raw gem of utterly fearless art. – De Morgen

As a sensory experience, Vake Poes is impressive. – De Standaard