Vake Poes; of hoe God verdween
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.
text, direction, voice Lisaboa Houbrechts | arias, chorales & recitatives J. S. Bach | musical direction & arrangements Pedro Beriso | arrangements for accordeon & tenor Philippe Thuriot | composition & realisation musical score Bert & Stijn Cools (granvat) | scenography & dolls Filip Peeters | costume design Oumar Dicko | light design Fabiana Piccioli | dramaturgy Hildegard De Vust | musical dramaturgy Piet De Volder | with Alberto Martinez, Boule Mpanya, Elisa Soster, Elsie De Brauw, Pieter Ampe, Philippe Thuriot, Sandra Paelinck, Stefaan De Gand, de kinderen orchestra (recording) orkest Opera Ballet Vlaanderen | execution costumes Oumar Dicko & kostuumatelier toneelhuis (Kathleen Van Mechelen, Kasia Mielczarek, Liezelot Osselaer, Monique Van Hassel) | execution set & dolls Filip Peeters & Atelier Froefroe (Marc Maillard) | production laGeste | co-production Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, toneelhuis, Le phénix valenciennes, MC 93, Opéra de Lille, Holland festival | with thanks to The School of Gaasbeek | with the support of the city of Ghent, the Flemish government, the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian federal government via Flanders Tax Shelter
TICKETS: € 26 / € 24 / € 22 / € 14