No Yogurt for the Dead
Histoire(s) du théâtre VI
In No Yogurt for the Dead, Tiago Rodrigues, artistic director of the Festival d’Avignon, draws inspiration from a true story about his father. Rogério Rodrigues, a respected Portuguese journalist, began writing an article during his final days in hospital. Every day, he jotted down notes about his experience as a terminal patient. Both he and Tiago knew it would be his last piece.
After his father's death, Tiago opened the notebook. It contained only a few lines, dots, scribbles — like the abstract drawings of a child. Rodrigues now wants to bring these unwritten pages to life. Mixing memories, songs and fragments of his father’s writings, he builds a performance that aims to be a small victory over death.
Following Miet Warlop, Angélica Liddell, Tim Etchells, Faustin Linyekula and Milo Rau, Tiago Rodrigues is the latest acclaimed director invited by NTGent to contribute to the prestigious Histoire(s) du Théâtre series.
Each scene in his production is a playful variation on the theme of farewell. The stage becomes a surreal landscape where hospital beds float across an icy sea — a metaphor for life’s turmoil. Music and poetry become the grammar of a theatre that still finds reasons for joy in the saddest of stories.
Text by KVS
text & direction Tiago Rodrigues ⎸ cast Lisah Adeaga, Manuela Azevedo, Beatriz Brás, Hélder Gonçalves ⎸ dramaturgy Kaatje De Geest ⎸ assistant director André Pato ⎸ light design Dennis Diels ⎸ decor design Sammy Van den Heuvel ⎸ costume design Ilse Vandenbussche ⎸ sound design Frederik Vanslembrouck ⎸ original music and arrangements Hélder Gonçalves ⎸ Dutch translation Lut Caenen ⎸ production NTGent ⎸ coproduction Culturgest Lisboa, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Wiener Festwochen