DE MAAN & 4Hoog
Amai Speciaal Chapeau
A wonderful music box that opens up to reveal a city full of extraordinary families.
I have two homes. WOW. Two adopted dinosaurs live above one of my homes, they are never alone. Next to my other house live three grandmothers, who talk a lot on the phone. Every day I walk past the Cranes, it’s part of my routine, they are a newly composed family that lives in between. SPECIAL. The people in my city are amazing families that always share their meal, have a spare shoulder to cry on and in the end, all join in the big pancake reveal! HATS OFF!
‘AMAI SPECIAAL CHAPEAU’ starts from a simple yet powerful idea: families come in all shapes and sizes. It’s an ode to everything that is considered “different” and it opens the door to a world full of extraordinary family constructions.
Karlien Torfs and Nikolas Lestaeghe create a performance rooted in their own lives, a life in which, as close friends, they are raising a daughter together. This performance stems from the many questions people have about their family structure and their ambition to question what is ‘normal’. In a world where the conventional family is becoming the norm again, they are looking for ways to shape their own lives in a reality that does not fit this model. They created the performance for their daughter, who was three years old at the time of the premiere, and for all other three-year-olds.
• Karlien Torfs (°1987) graduated as Master in Directing from RITCS in 2015. As a theatre maker with a great love for the common man in their natural habitat, she prefers to work on location. She co-directed ‘Dans, dans, dans’ (2024) with Anouk Friedli and collaborated on Nikolas Lestaeghe’s ‘Het Spookhuis’ (2025).
• Nikolas Lestaeghe (°1988) is a theatre maker who builds amusement parks, tree houses and cardboard worlds with equal enthusiasm. His work sits at the intersection of installation art and theatre. He created ‘Manita’ (TAZ), ‘HUT’ at 4Hoog, ‘De Kleine Prins’ at Theater Malpertuis and ‘Bonkers Kidsrave’ at Zonzo Compagnie.
• Simon D’Huyvetter (°1986) is a theatre maker and actor. Since April 2023 he works as artistic director at 4Hoog, and in April 2026 he joined the artistic direction of DE MAAN.
• DE MAAN & 4Hoog — DE MAAN creates imaginative theatre for everyone aged 3 and up. 4Hoog is a Ghent-based production house for young performing arts makers.
Concept en spel Karlien Torfs en Nikolas Lestaeghe | Eindregie Simon D'Huyvetter | Figuren Paul Contryn en Katinka Heremans | Decorontwerp Paul Contryn, Nikolas Lestaeghe en Karlien Torfs | Decorbouw Stéphane Vloebergh | Lichtontwerp en techniek Aaron Bruyninckx | Muziekcompositie Leen Diependaele en Bart Van Lierde | Productieleiding Noor de Graaf | Productie DE MAAN & 4Hoog | Coproductie Perpodium, met steun van de Tax Shelter van de Belgische Federale Overheid en BESIDE | Met dank aan Dina Amghar, Fie Gillis, Marta Pereira, Gaëlle Pierre, Jane Popova Yevheniia Andriivna, Dominique Defossez
