Brecht's First play
A sharp, often humorous reimagining of Bertolt Brecht’s play Baal, by Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel. What do you do with an antihero like Baal ignore them, push them aside, or cancel them? And what does that say about morality, power, and control, both in the West and in China?
festival Holland festival
run time 1 uur 45 minuten
genre Theater
language Mandarin.
surtitles: English, Dutch
Brecht's First Play
On stage, a Chinese ensemble performs the scenes in a minimalist blue studio, while above them Baal gradually fades on a video screen. Two worlds overlap: live performance versus manipulated video, presence of the bad guy versus making him disappear and cancelling him. The show explores how societies erase problematic figures and what choices and boundaries come with that. -|-
Brecht’s First Play poses a fundamental question: does a society become safer by banishing ‘monsters’, or is it society itself that is antisocial? Kidd and Moukarzal are both artistic directors of Dead Centre, an award-winning theatre company based in Dublin. This internationally produced show by Beijing Repertory Theatre, Holland Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival blends theatre, video and scenography into a visually and intellectually stimulating experience.
From 3 to 28 June, the 79th edition of the Holland Festival, the Netherlands' groundbreaking international performing arts festival, will take place. Here you can see performances that you would not otherwise see in the Netherlands. For a whole month, you can enjoy international artists who push the boundaries of dance, music and theatre. From 13 to 27 June, you can see six different productions from this festival at ITA.
Credits
creation Beijing Repertory Theatre, Dead Centre
text Bertolt Brecht
adaptation Ben Kidd, Bush Moukarzel
direction Ben Kidd, Bush Moukarzel
cast Jin Shijia (Baal/Brecht), Cui Wei (Mech), Li Tengfei (Piller), Ma Zhuojun (Emilie), Zhang Jiahuai (Johannes), Tan Wei (Sophie)
scenography Jiang Han
video design Sebastian Dupouey-|-
sound design Annie Jing Yin, Tian Dongyi
lighting design Chen Xiaji
costume design Viola Zhang
translation Han Zhao
revival direction Zhang Mingyi
fight choreography Shao Yan
production Shihui Weng, Jiang Han
co-production Beijing Repertory Theater, Tempest Projects, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Holland Festival
