ONE SONG - Histoire(s) du Théâtre IV

NTGent / Irene Wool vzw / Miet Warlop

Four stars in The Guardian, "a more than deserved standing ovation" according to the critic of The New York Times, and accolades in the French and Belgian press: the world premiere of the performance ONE SONG - Histoire(s) du Théâtre IV by Miet Warlop & NTGent at the prestigious Festival d'Avignon turned out to be a triumph.

What is your history as a theatre maker? At the invitation of NTGent, Miet Warlop formulates an answer as only she can. In the series Histoire(s) du Théâtre she is the fourth director to accept the challenge of a creation in which present, past and future meet each other in an inspiring way – after Milo Rau, Faustin Linyekula and Angélica Liddell.

run time 60 minutes
genre theatre
language Dutch

ONE SONG - Histoire(s) du Théâtre IV

Through the metaphor of a live competition/concert, including a commentator and a cheerleader, Miet Warlop invites us to form a community and lift each other up, as in a celebration. The temporary thus becomes the universal, and the personal becomes something of the collective. That is the subtext of ONE SONG: how one song can give meaning to a whole society. Unity in diversity. 

The past is the present is the future. And as human beings, we are, willingly and unwillingly, a gladiator, in conflict with time. Beauty and comfort cannot be grasped but happen to us. The need to connect makes us both vulnerable and tragic. Vulnerable in our physical limitations, despite the efforts we make to strengthen our bodies. And tragic in our existential loneliness, the result of an awareness that is peculiar to mankind. 
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The twelve performers go to extremes together: through sung text, images and objects, oxygen and sweat, they evoke our condition humaine. Again and again, someone stands up to push his or her boundaries. They defy time and give expression to a deep human need: the moment in which we can transcend our thinking body. 

In the press

The Guardian

'A frenetic tableau... Eliciting a massive ovation at Festival d'Avignon.'

The New York Times

'Loud, preposterous and extremely entertaining.'

De Standaard

'A rocking primal scream bursting of zest for life, energy and
humour.'

Theaterkrant (Critic's Choice)

'Hilarious, energetic, poignant and hypnotising like a mantra.'

Le Monde

'A passionate performance that seems to replay life itself and its
endless variations.'

Credits

actor Simon Beeckaert, Elisabeth Klinck, Willem Lenaerts, Milan Schudel, Melvin Slabbinck, Joppe Tanghe, Karin Tanghe, Wietse Tanghe en Stanislas Bruynseels, Rint Dens, Judith Engelen, Marius Lefever, Luka Mariën, Flora Van Canneyt, Jarne Van Loon

conception, direction & set design Miet Warlop
music Maarten van Cauwenberghe
text Miet Warlop advised by Jeroen Olyslaegers
dramaturgy Giacomo Bisordi

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assistant dramaturgy Kaatje De Geest
sound design Bart van Hoydonck , Raf Willems
lighting design Dennis Diels
costume design Carol Piron – Filles á Papa

production NTGent, Miet Warlop / Irene Wool vzw
coproduction Festival d’Avignon, DE SINGEL (Antwerp), Tandem Scène nationale (Arras-Douai), Théâtre Dijon Bourgogne - Centre dramatique national, HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), La Comédie de Valence Centre dramatique national Drôme – Ardèche, Teatre Lliure (Barcelona)

with the support of the Flemish Government, the City of Ghent, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal government
with the help of Frans Brood productions