Why you will see more francophone theatre at NTGent this season

Dear NTGent audience,

I have chosen some performances for you. Or maybe those performances have chosen me, for you. To be honest, I didn't select any performances. I mostly chose artists. Because I love them. And ‘choose’ may not be the right word. Because can you really choose whether you like someone? This is the invitation letter I wrote to them. I am very happy they said yes, I think you are lucky people. I look forward to sharing their work with you.

Kind regards,

Ilyas

Dear Yousra, Gaia and Emilienne,

I don't know if you know each other. If you don't, it won't be long in any case. But I do know you, I have seen your performances and I have a question for you. I hope it succeeds. First I'll sketch you my starting point, a basic idea that deserves some deepening. Then I'll tell you a bit about my proposal. This is an excerpt from the last play I wrote: Hofstade. Which is played mainly by teenagers:

Viggo: I have an existential question: if the world is violent, should we use violence to save ourselves?

Abigaël: Yes. I would like to say ‘no’, but the answer is ‘yes’.

Viggo: What does that mean?

Abigaël: Viggo, you have to know how to defend yourself. It's simple (silence) But you also have to choose a family so you can rest. What we want is to create a family. Choosing who we share love with.

Viggo: When you grow up, do you get to choose your family?

Babette: Yes.

Haby: No.

Ayoub: No.

Paloma: Yes.

Vasco: That depends on your frame of reference.

Viggo: I would like to choose you as my family but at the same time keep my own family. Is that possible? (silence) Is that possible? Why doesn't anyone answer me?

For a few years now, I have been trying to break free from the cynical position I took when I was younger. I probably took that position as an act of resistance to the system or because it was comfortable. I was surrounded by bourgeois people who claimed to be committed. But I found their commitment false and bland. I thought, ‘It's easy to fight for big ideas when you've already had your ass handed to you’. I did nothing. What's the point, I thought. I was wrong, at least in part....

Today, my eyes are open to new forms of struggle. The battlegrounds broaden, the thoughts around them become more inclusive or touch me more. And as violence continues to escalate in our world, I feel an urgency more than ever. A rebellion that is more lived through. Maybe it's the age? Like a kind of reversing adolescence? Today, I live with the idea that it is essential to fight against injustice, no matter how priviliged we are. Regardless of whether it is realistic. Fighting for justice is always realistic. Period.

But fighting can also be exhausting and damaging. You feel powerless. Our rights are under attack from all sides, there are so many battles to be fought. It makes us dizzy. So the question as a starting point for this conversation is: how can we fight together AND be a family, how can we fight without exhausting ourselves? How do we build spaces for radical struggle, but also spaces to rest and recharge? And what about theatre within that? What meaning do we want to give to the performing arts we create?

What is it, apart from the work itself, that brings so many people together in the same space? A place for struggle, gentleness, mobilisation, peace, joy? And can it be all at once? This shines through in each of your projects. Each time in a different way, but still I feel it.

I think all three of you give a very different meaning to the stage you create. Yet each time I see both the struggle and the desire to be together. To form a family, in the broadest sense of the word, beyond blood ties. Struggle and softness.

Emilienne, I was lucky enough to see your performance Rage  on video and I dream of seeing it in real life. Already one good reason to programme you. It was a slap in my face. I laughed and I questioned the sad man that I am. Poor me! I really like your irreverence, your humour and the original pulse in your work. After our conversation, I understand that the struggle for you goes far beyond the theatre stage, and I think it could be interesting to think about that further together. There is also a clear sense of connection between the performers on stage, and that unity in struggle appeals to me. Struggle and softness.

Yousra, I feel that in your project you make clear what we need to fight together and form a family. You gift us with your personal story a foundation we still lack. A clear statement that allows us to move forward with pride and overcome violence with gentleness. It is a foundation for connection and a plea to give ourselves the rest we need. Struggle and softness.

Gaia, you beautifully report on the struggle to celebrate life and reinvent family, and that in a violent world full of racism and sexism. I love the gentle way you share your life force with us. Struggle and softness.

Your engagement with life and with the city - through your artistic projects, but also through the positions you take - excite me and I would like to share these reflections with you and with NTGent's audience. I want to deepen our insights and maybe, who knows, form a family together....

My question: will you join me?