Werken en dagen
In 700 BC, the Greek poet Hesiod put down a series of advice on the art of farming on paper for his brother. This letter, entitled Work and Days, became a farmer's almanac in verse form, pairing agricultural advice with a guide to life in general.
FC Bergman adopts Hesiodos' title for its own reflection on life on (and with) the land. A life in tune with the seasons, according to the laws of the land and the customs of the community that cultivates it.
A new age, however, with new possibilities and desires, is weeding its way into this fragile marriage between man and earth.
FC Bergman's previous production The Sheep Song (2021) was an ode to the freedom of the individual and the malleability of life, and Work and Days is a true ode to the unstoppable power of the group and the boundless power of nature. Though in a way - and inevitably - it also becomes an elegy.
With Werken en dagen, FC Bergman once again pushes boundaries. Their magnificent swan song for collective farming can already be called the ecological wake-up call of the season. (...) You will see the works of Bruegel and Permeke, of Claus and Millet, but above all of FC Bergman. Werken en dagen thus becomes a classic example of imagination. **** — De Standaard
• FC Bergman was founded in 2008 by six young theatre makers. In a short time, they developed their very own theatrical language, which in addition to being idiosyncratic and slightly chaotic, is above all very visual and poetic. They could be seen at Kaaitheater with Van den Vos (2014) and we presented impressive location projects such as Terminator Trilogy (2012) and The Land of Nod (2016). In 2023, we put on The Sheep Song twice in a sold-out CC De Factorij as part of PeriferiK.
direction, scenario and scenography Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Thomas Verstraeten & Marie Vinck ⎸ performers Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Maryam Sserwamukoko, Thomas Verstraeten, Marie Vinck, Geert Goossens, Roos Janssens / Susan De Ceuster / Bonnie Elias ⎸ musical composition and live performance Joachim Badenhorst & Sean Carpio ⎸ costume design An d’Huys ⎸ light design Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans & Ken Hioco ⎸ production Toneelhuis ⎸ co-production Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa (IT), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (LU) ⎸ with the support of the Belgian Federal Government Tax Shelter and Gallop Tax Shelter