Antigone in Molenbeek

These performances are cancelled because the tour has been postponed due to the coronavirus.

In early 2016, the president of a major country labelled Molenbeek a ‘Hellhole’. Stefan Hertmans had already started working on Antigone in Molenbeek at that point. In this unrelenting tale, a young woman searches for the body of her dead brother. Referring to Sophocles’ tragedy, Hertmans wrote a relevant, compelling and poetic theatre monologue about empathizing with somebody who becomes completely isolated: the sister of a suicide bomber. Nouria only wants one thing, and that is to bury her brother – but the authorities will not release his mortal remains. When she tries to access the Forensic Centre where the corpse is stored, everything goes wrong. What is the extent of our humanity? Whom do we consider to be our fellow human and whom don’t we?

• Guy Cassiers directs actress Ikram Aoulad. The script engages in dialogue with the final string quartet by Dmitri Shostakovich, in which the composer said farewell to life.