Atropa

Theater Utrecht / Toneelhuis / Orkater / Naomi Velissariou / Floor Houwink ten Cate

The paradox of peace is that it needs to be conquered.
With violence.
(Tom Lanoye)

In Atropa the taboos of a generation characterized by its crave for emancipation are being told in a language they understand best: that of blasting beats and razor sharp poetry.

Run time 120 minutes
Genre theatre
Language Dutch
Surtitles English

Note that the surtitles are only visible from the theatre hall and not from the seats on stage.

The performance includes strobe effects and some loud music passages.

ATROPA

Atropa tells the story of the war for Troy and unites the classical and the contemporary in terms of theme as well as language. Writer Tom Lanoye transformed the age-old story of the struggle between East and West into a critique of contemporary imperialism. The war waged by men in Atropa is at the expense of the woman, who loses child, love, body and ground to her oppressor. Greek women come face to face with Trojan women, who after the occupation of their city prefer death to a life of oppression. At the end of the war, it is up to the only man to convincingly defend the values of the survivors.

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Atropa is a bacchanal of language and music in which the struggle for power gives way to a celebration of vulnerability. For their directorial debut as makers on the big stage, Naomi Velissariou and Floor Houwink ten Cate convert the stage into an arena of musical violence and visual spectacle. In Dennis Vanderbroeck's scenography, the audience comes within easy reach of the tragedy. Lanoye's ultra-rhythmic stabs of language are matched by the sound design of Joost Maaskant and Jimi Zoet, which varies between the genres of techno, doom and hardcore to hip hop, trap and drill. The costumes of MAISON the FAUX turn the battlefield into a female death fashion show.

About the text

Atropa. The revenge of peace was written in 2008 by Tom Lanoye and premiered that same year at the Avignon festival, directed by Guy Cassiers. In 2012, Lanoye won the prize for stage texts, because in Atropa he "searches for the roots of the evil called war and violence" and thereby "analyzes the game of power", according to the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature. In the version by Velissariou and Houwink ten Cate, Atropa is a tragedy as it is intended: a linguistic celebration to music, in honor of contemporary gods.

REVIEWS

Knack Focus

'This is strong, sexy theatre that stuns you with its steamy acting and ditto soundscape.'

de Volkskrant

'a visually stunning and sometimes spectacular showcase of acting talent'

NRC

'When Velissariou and Stuger face each other later in the play, it produces breathtaking fireworks.'

De Standaard

'An uncompromising staging that makes a mythical conflict feel contemporary again'

De Morgen

'Directors Naomi Velissariou and Floor Houwink ten Cate give the performance a formative, musical update: a classic tragedy played out in a Berlin nightclub.'

CREDITS

concept Naomi Velissariou
text Tom Lanoye
directors Naomi Velissariou and Floor Houwink ten Cate
cast Vanja Rukavina, Naomi Velissariou, Ntianu Stuger, Annelinde Bruijs, Thibaud Dooms, Denise Jannah, Adanna Unigwe, Jasmine Sendar.
music Joost Maaskant and Jimi Zoet
light design Tim van 't Hof-|-
scenography Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck
costume design MAISON the FAUX
sound design Sander van der Werff

coproduction of Theatre Utrecht, Toneelhuis Antwerpen, Orkater Amsterdam and Stichting Naomi Velissariou
made possible by Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Ammodo