BLACK (The sorrows of Belgium 1: Congo)
In the trilogy The Sorrows of Belgium, consisting of the national tricolour Black/Yellow/Red, director Luk Perceval zooms in on three dark passages from Belgian history. The first part, Black, is a true record about one of the first Congolese travellers in history: the African-American William Henry Sheppard, who was called ‘the Black Livingstone’.
Grote Zaal
Duration: not yet known, no intermission
Language: Dutch
Dutch premiere
Part 1 of a trilogy about radical events in Belgian history.
William Sheppard travelled to Africa in February 1890 as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church. Together with his white travel companion Sam Lapsley, he embarked on a radical adventure in completely unknown territory, where he experienced one surprise after the other. Lapsley did not survive the mission, but Sheppard returned to America and from there, was one of the first to heavily criticise the abuses in the Congo.
Part 2 of the trilogy, Yellow, will deal with the collaboration with the German occupiers during the Second World War, while in Red, the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels will take centre stage. Both performances wille be shown in Internationaal Theater Amsterdam.
In de pers
'Een groots werk.' - De Standaard
'Luk Percevals Congo-aanklacht Black in NTGent: een welkome mep in je gezicht.' - De Morgen *****
'Een zinderend gesamtkunstwerk.' - De Standaard
'De tableaus die de acht acteurs samen creëren zijn beeldschoon, maar nooit vrijblijvend.' - De Morgen *****
'Dit is theater in zijn meest prangende, relevante verschijningsvorm, theater dat zich met beide voeten in het hier en nu bevindt.' - De Morgen *****
'Black is wreed, maar het is geschiedenisles die als een theaterstuk op geen enkele manier beter verpakt kon worden.' - Het Nieuwsblad
Luk Perceval (Lommel, 1957) is a Flemish actor and director.
In season 22|23 his direction of The Year of Cancer will be reprised.
